Wisconsin Officials Worry About Sweeping Efforts to Modify/Delete CDC Data by the Current Presidential Administration

Monday, February 10th, 2025 -- 12:01 PM

(Anna Marie Yanny, Wisconsin Public Radio) Wisconsin scientists and state officials say they’re worried a sweeping effort to modify the Centers for Disease Control website to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive orders could undermine years of federal data.

According to Anna Marie Yanny with Wisconsin Public Radioi, Wisconsin health researchers have seen some CDC data disappear and come back online with the website header “CDC’s website is being modified to comply with President Trump’s Executive Orders.”

The Trump administration is specifically focused on the president’s orders related to gender, as well as diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. Some CDC sites are back online, with words like “pregnant people” changed to “pregnant women,” NPR reported.

Other webpages, such as the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, are still missing results. “So far, we are still able to access state data because it is not housed on the CDC website.

What’s disappeared is that national level data,” said Diana DiazGranados, director of the Better Together project in La Crosse County. The project used the Youth Risk Behavior Survey to inform local organizations about kids’ mental health.

“We’re concerned about any changes that might be made to the survey and what that data will look like,” she said. The survey informs health officials about things like teen substance use, sexual activity and mental health. It also collects demographic data, like race, sex and grade.

DiazGranados said the Youth Risk Behavior Survey is crucial for understanding what youth are going through. “It’s our largest database that helps us see if youth behaviors, like risky behaviors, are changing over time,” DiazGranados said.

The survey also helps health organizations and schools understand how different populations are impacted, she added. “Youth who identify as LGBT are more likely to be doing less well,” DiazGranados said, as an example.

“That allows us as a community to rally around that group of students and target prevention interventions to them based on that information.” She’s concerned that changes to the survey from Trump’s executive orders could leave questions omitted.

“It is important for us to know what kids are going through,” DiazGranados said. “If we don’t ask, it doesn’t make the problem go away.” 

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