U.S. Children's Health Declines 15% to 20% Over 17 Years

The health of children in the U.S. has declined over the past 17 years, with increasing rates of obesity, chronic diseases, and mental health issues such as depression, according to a new study. The research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, provides a comprehensive overview of various aspects of children’s physical and mental health, revealing a generalized decline across multiple indicators.

Dr. Christopher Forrest, one of the study’s authors, highlighted that the most surprising aspect was the consistency of the findings across 170 indicators and eight data sources, all pointing to a deterioration in children’s health. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has recently brought attention to children’s health with the “Make America Healthy Again” report, which described children as undernourished, overmedicated, and lacking physical activity. However, experts believe that the current administration’s policies, including cuts to federal health agencies and scientific research, are unlikely to reverse these trends.

Dr. Frederick Rivara, a pediatrician and researcher at the Seattle Children’s Hospital and UW Medicine, co-authored an editorial accompanying the study. He emphasized that the health of U.S. children is not as good as it should be, especially when compared to other countries, and that current policies are likely to exacerbate the situation. The study analyzed surveys, electronic health records from 10 pediatric health systems, and international mortality statistics. Key findings include a rise in obesity rates from 17% in 2007-2008 to about 21% in 2021-2023 for children aged 2-19. Additionally, the likelihood of a child having a chronic condition such as anxiety, depression, or sleep apnea increased by 15% to 20% between 2011 and 2023. The annual prevalence rates for 97 chronic conditions recorded by doctors also rose from about 40% in 2011 to about 46% in 2023.

Other health issues that increased among American children during the study period include early onset of menstruation, trouble sleeping, limitations in activity, physical symptoms, depressive symptoms, and loneliness. The study also found that American children were around 1.8 times more likely to die than kids in other high-income countries from 2007-2022. Premature birth, sudden unexpected death, firearm-related incidents, and motor vehicle crashes were much more common among U.S. children compared to their peers in other countries.

Forrest, who is a pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, noted that the health of children serves as an indicator of broader societal issues. “Kids are the canaries in the coal mine,” he said. “When kids’ health changes, it’s because they’re at increased vulnerability, and it reflects what’s happening in society at large.” The study’s timing was fortuitous, as Forrest was working on a book about thriving over the life span and found a lack of comprehensive data on children’s health. Dr. James Perrin, a pediatrician and spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics, acknowledged the study’s limitations but affirmed the basic finding of a decline in children’s health.

The editorial accompanying the study criticized the administration’s policies, stating that while the “Make America Healthy Again” movement brings attention to chronic diseases, other policies such as eliminating injury prevention programs and fueling vaccine hesitancy may harm children’s health. Forrest suggested that addressing the complex reality driving trends in children’s health requires a neighborhood-by-neighborhood, city-by-city examination of the ecosystem in which children are growing up.