PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/Healthy People 2030

How to Cite Healthy People 2030 in APA 7

Cite a Healthy People 2030 page as a webpage with a government group author: Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, then (n.d.), the page title in italics, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the source, and the page's URL. Healthy People pages carry no publication date, so they take n.d. The in-text citation is (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion [ODPHP], n.d.) the first time and (ODPHP, n.d.) after that.

The format

Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (n.d.). Title of the page. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/xxxx

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 21, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Paste the Healthy People 2030 page's URL into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA knows the site: it fills in the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion as the group author with the ODPHP abbreviation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the source, the title in sentence case, and the URL, and it leaves the date empty so the reference prints n.d.

Citing an objective's data? Fill in Retrieval Date (the Today button does it in one click), and PERRLA adds "Retrieved ..., from" before the URL.

Citing several Healthy People pages in one paper? They all share the same author and n.d., and PERRLA labels them n.d.-a, n.d.-b, n.d.-c, and so on, in the references and the citations, so each citation points to the right page.

Look up
Paste a URL, get the reference

https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health

Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (n.d.). Social determinants of health. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Author: ODPHP

The author is the agency that runs Healthy People 2030: the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Spell it out in the reference.

Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

Healthy People 2030 is the name of the initiative and the website, not an author. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is ODPHP's parent department, so it goes in the source, not in the author spot.

2. Date: n.d.

Healthy People 2030 pages don't show a publication or update date for their content, so the date is n.d.

(n.d.).

Don't use 2020, the year Healthy People 2030 launched: that dates the initiative, not the page. And a notice or banner at the top of the site with a date in it is about the website, not the page you're citing, so it doesn't change the date either.

3. Page title

Italicize the page title and write it in sentence case. Keep "Healthy People 2030" capitalized when it's part of a title, because it's a proper noun. An objective's title includes its code, like HDS-05; keep the code.

Health literacy in Healthy People 2030

4. Source: HHS

For a federal agency's page, APA puts the parent agency where the site name would go. For ODPHP, that's the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

5. Retrieval date (for objective data)

Objective pages show the latest national data, and Healthy People updates those numbers as new data come in. If you cite the numbers, add a retrieval date so your reader knows when you saw them. Pages that describe the initiative, like the social determinants of health page, don't need one.

Retrieved October 21, 2026, from https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/heart-disease-and-stroke/increase-control-high-blood-pressure-adults-hds-05

6. URL

End with the full URL of the page you used. Healthy People 2030 lives at odphp.health.gov/healthypeople now. Older health.gov/healthypeople links still redirect there, but give the address the page has today.

https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health

Examples

The social determinants of health page

The page with Healthy People's definition of social determinants of health and its five domains, a staple of nursing and public health papers. A standard ODPHP reference: n.d., no retrieval date.

  • Parenthetical citation(Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion [ODPHP], n.d.)
  • Narrative citationOffice of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP, n.d.)
  • Later citations(ODPHP, n.d.)

Quoting the health literacy definitions

Healthy People 2030's definitions of personal and organizational health literacy, often quoted in nursing and public health papers. The page has no page numbers, so the citation for a quote names the heading the definitions sit under. In a narrative citation, the heading goes in parentheses after the quote.

  • Parenthetical citation(Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion [ODPHP], n.d., "How does Healthy People define health literacy?" section)
  • Narrative citationOffice of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP, n.d.)
  • Later citations(ODPHP, n.d., "How does Healthy People define health literacy?" section)

An objective page, citing its data

Objective HDS-05, on controlling high blood pressure in adults. The page shows the baseline, the target, and the most recent national data, and that last number changes when new data are released. If you cite the data, add the date you retrieved it.

  • Parenthetical citation(Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion [ODPHP], n.d.)
  • Narrative citationOffice of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP, n.d.)
  • Later citations(ODPHP, n.d.)

The Healthy People 2030 framework

The page with Healthy People 2030's vision, mission, foundational principles, and overarching goals. Cite this page when your paper uses the goals themselves.

  • Parenthetical citation(Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion [ODPHP], n.d.)
  • Narrative citationOffice of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP, n.d.)
  • Later citations(ODPHP, n.d.)

In-text citations

Every Healthy People 2030 page has the same author and no date, so the citations look alike. The rules:

  • First citation: the full name with the abbreviation: (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion [ODPHP], n.d.), or in a sentence, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP, n.d.)
  • After that: (ODPHP, n.d.) or ODPHP (n.d.)
  • Several Healthy People pages in one paper: add lowercase letters after n.d., in title order: (ODPHP, n.d.-a), (ODPHP, n.d.-b). The same letters go on the matching references.
  • A quote: name the heading the passage sits under, (ODPHP, n.d., "How does Healthy People define health literacy?" section), or count the paragraphs, (ODPHP, n.d., para. 2).
  • Naming the initiative in your sentence: you can write "Healthy People 2030 defines..." in your text, but the citation still uses the author: (ODPHP, n.d.).

Common mistakes

  • Healthy People 2030. (n.d.). Social determinants of health.Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (n.d.). Social determinants of health. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Healthy People 2030 is the initiative, not the author. The agency that runs it, ODPHP, is the author.
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2020). Healthy People 2030.Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (n.d.). Healthy People 2030 framework. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Use the specific agency as author and the parent department as the source. And 2020 is when the initiative launched, not the date of any page on the site.
  • Healthy People 2030, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Retrieved [date], from https://health.gov/...Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (n.d.). Social determinants of health. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-healthThe "Suggested citation" boxes on the site are written for reusing its graphics, and they aren't APA 7 format. Build the reference from its parts instead.
  • Social Determinants of HealthSocial determinants of healthThe site capitalizes every word in its page titles. APA 7 webpage titles take sentence case.
  • (Healthy People 2030, n.d.)(Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion [ODPHP], n.d.), then (ODPHP, n.d.)The citation uses the same author as the reference. It's ODPHP, not the name of the initiative.

Quick checklist

  • Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion as author
  • (n.d.). for the date, never 2020
  • Page title in italics and sentence case, with any objective code
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the source
  • A retrieval date only when you cite an objective's data
  • The current odphp.health.gov/healthypeople URL
  • In text: (ODPHP, n.d.), with n.d.-a, n.d.-b for several pages

Questions students ask

Who is the author of Healthy People 2030?

The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), which coordinates the initiative for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Use ODPHP as the author and HHS as the source.

Why is the date n.d. and not 2020?

Healthy People 2030 launched in 2020, but its pages don't show a date for their content. APA dates a webpage by the page, not by the initiative, so a page with no date takes n.d.

Do I need a retrieval date for Healthy People 2030?

Only when you cite numbers from an objective page, because the most recent data on those pages change as new data come in. Pages that explain the initiative, like the framework or social determinants of health pages, don't need one.

How do I cite more than one Healthy People 2030 page?

Give each page its own reference. Because they share an author and n.d., add letters: n.d.-a, n.d.-b, and so on, in order by title, and use the same letters in the citations. PERRLA adds the letters for you.

Should Healthy People 2030 appear in the reference?

It's already in the URL, and in the title when the page title names it. Some library guides add Healthy People 2030 as a site name, but APA's pattern for a federal agency's webpage puts the parent agency, HHS, in that spot, and that's the version shown here.

How do I cite the whole Healthy People 2030 website?

If you mention the website in general, without pointing to anything on a specific page, name it in your sentence and give the URL in parentheses, with no reference list entry. Once you use specific information, cite the page it's on.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 8.13, 8.19, 8.21, 8.22, 8.28, 9.11, 9.16, 9.17, 9.47, and 10.16, and the APA Style website's example of a webpage with a government agency group author. Each example page was opened on odphp.health.gov on October 21, 2026, to confirm its title and URL and that it shows no publication or update date.

PERRLA builds Healthy People 2030 references from the URL, with ODPHP, HHS, and n.d. in place and the n.d.-a, n.d.-b letters added for you.

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