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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Summary health statistics for U.S. children: National Health Interview Survey, 2004
Barbara Bloom1, Achintya N Dey
1Division of Health Interview Statistics, USA.
Insights
In 2004, most U.S. children had excellent health, but 9% lacked health insurance and 5% lacked a usual healthcare provider. Asthma, learning disabilities, and ADHD affected a significant portion of children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health Statistics
- Public Health Surveillance
- Child Health Indicators
Background:
- The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is a key source of data on the health of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population.
- Understanding the health status and healthcare access of children is crucial for public health policy and interventions.
- Demographic and socioeconomic factors significantly influence children's health outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present comprehensive statistics on selected health measures for U.S. children under 18 years in 2004.
- To analyze these health measures across various demographic and socioeconomic subgroups.
- To provide insights into the prevalence of conditions like asthma, learning disabilities, and ADHD in children.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the 2004 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).
- Analyzed age-adjusted and unadjusted statistics for children under 18.
- Classified data by sex, age, race, Hispanic origin, family structure, parent's education, family income, poverty status, health insurance, residence, region, and health status.
Main Results:
- In 2004, 82% of U.S. children under 18 reported excellent or very good health.
- 9% of children lacked health insurance, and 5% did not have a usual place for healthcare.
- Prevalence estimates included 12% ever diagnosed with asthma, 8% with a learning disability, and 7% with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Conclusions:
- While most U.S. children were in good health in 2004, significant disparities in health insurance and access to regular care existed.
- Asthma, learning disabilities, and ADHD represent substantial health burdens for U.S. children.
- These findings highlight the need for continued monitoring and targeted interventions to improve child health and reduce inequities.
Objectives:
This report presents both age-adjusted and unadjusted statistics from the 2004 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) on selected health measures for children under 18 years of age, classified by sex, age, race, Hispanic origin, family structure, parent's education, family income, poverty status, health insurance coverage, place of residence, region, and current health status. The topics covered are asthma, allergies, learning disability and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), prescription medication use, respondent-assessed health status, school-loss days, usual place of health care, time since last contact with a health care professional, selected measures of health care access and utilization, and dental care.
Source Of Data:
The NHIS is a multistage probability sample survey conducted annually by interviewers of the U. S. Census Bureau for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics and is representative of the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States. Data are collected for all family members during face-to-face interviews with adults present at the time of interview. Additional information about children is collected for one randomly selected child per family in face-to-face interviews with an adult proxy respondent familiar with the child's health.
Selected Highlights:
In 2004, most U.S. children under 18 years of age had excellent or very good health (82%). However, 9% of children had no health insurance coverage, and 5% of children had no usual place of health care. Twelve percent of children had ever been diagnosed with asthma. An estimated 8% of children 3-17 years of age had a learning disability, and an estimated 7% of children had ADHD.
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