Rate of circumcisions falls 6 percentage points, study finds

The analysis by the National Center for Health Statistics shows the rate dropping from 64 percent to 58 percent over 32 years.

USA Today: Hospital Circumcisions Down 10% Over Three Decades
During the 32-year span, the percentage fell from 64.5% to 58.3%, finds the analysis by the National Center for Health Statistics. It was highest in 1981 at 64.9%, and lowest in 2007 at 55.4%. Numbers do not include circumcisions outside hospitals for religious or other reasons, says study co-author Maria Owings (Healy, 8/22).

Reuters: Baby Circumcisions In U.S. Hospitals Decline Over Three Decades
[T]he practice has been the subject of heated debate, including efforts to ban circumcision in San Francisco and Germany. The American Academy of Pediatrics said last August that the health benefits of infant circumcision outweigh the risks of the surgery. The National Center for Health Statistics offered little explanation in the report for the falling rates, but said fluctuations over the years followed changes to the American Academy of Pediatrics' assessment of the procedure's medical value (Johnson, 8/22).

Earlier, related KHN coverage: An Alaska-Sized Price Difference: A Circumcision In Anchorage Hospitals Can Cost $2,110 or $235 (Feidt, 8/21).