Report shows improvement in U.S. children's wellbeing

The overall wellbeing of U.S. children has increased by nearly 10% from 1994 to 2006 despite increased rates of childhood obesity and low-birthweight babies, according to a study released on Thursday, the Washington Post reports.

For the study, researchers led by Kenneth Land, a sociologist and demographer at Duke University, created a composite index of more than 25 key national indicators of wellbeing and analyzed data on children from several federal sources, including CDC and the departments of Education and Justice.

According to the study, mortality rates among children ages one to four declined by one-third, from 42.9 per 100,000 children in 1994 to 28.1 per 100,000 in 2006. Land attributed the improvement to advances in medical care and nutrition, among other factors. Vaccination rates also increased among preschoolers, researchers said. The study found that the percentage of children younger than age six with high levels of lead in their blood declined by 84%, from 7.6% in 1997 to 1.2% in 2007.

The study also found that 8.4% of babies born in 2006 were underweight, a 15% increase from 1994. In addition, the obesity rate increased from 12.7% in 1994 to 20.6% in 2006 for children ages six to 11, and from 8.4% to 15.8% during the same 12-year period for children ages two to five, according to the study (St. George, Washington Post, 4/24).

The report is available online.