Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 30, 2025
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Five-Year Trends in US Children's Health and Well-being, 2016-2020
Lydie A Lebrun-Harris1, Reem M Ghandour1, Michael D Kogan1
1US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau.
Insights
Childhood anxiety and depression increased significantly, while physical activity and parent mental health declined between 2016-2020. These trends highlight critical areas for improving children's health and well-being.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health Outcomes
- Childhood Mental Health Trends
- Public Health Surveillance
Background:
- The well-being of 73 million US children is crucial for national health and long-term adult outcomes.
- Understanding recent trends in children's health is vital, especially changes potentially linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine recent trends in children's health-related measures from 2016 to 2020.
- To identify significant changes possibly associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of annual data from the National Survey of Children's Health (2016-2020).
- Inclusion of a nationally representative sample of 174,551 children aged 0-17 years.
- Use of adjusted logistic regression models to assess trends over time.
Main Results:
- Significant increases observed in childhood anxiety (+29%) and depression (+27%) from 2016-2020.
- Decreases noted in daily physical activity (-18%), parent mental health (-5%), and coping with parenting demands (-11%).
- Between 2019-2020, increases in behavior problems (+21%) and child care disruptions (+34%), alongside a decrease in preventive medical visits (-9%).
Conclusions:
- Recent trends reveal concerning shifts in children's health, including mental health and lifestyle behaviors.
- Findings underscore the need for targeted research, clinical interventions, policy adjustments, and program investments.
- Further analysis is required to understand variations within specific child subpopulations.
Importance:
Ensuring the well-being of the 73 million children in the United States is critical for improving the nation's health and influencing children's long-term outcomes as they grow into adults.
Objective:
To examine recent trends in children's health-related measures, including significant changes between 2019 and 2020 that might be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design, Setting, And Participants:
Annual data were examined from the National Survey of Children's Health (2016-2020), a population-based, nationally representative survey of randomly selected children. Participants were children from birth to age 17 years living in noninstitution settings in all 50 states and the District of Columbia whose parent or caregiver responded to an address-based survey by mail or web. Weighted prevalence estimates account for probability of selection and nonresponse. Adjusted logistic regression models tested for significant trends over time.
Main Outcomes And Measures:
Diverse measures pertaining to children's current health conditions, positive health behaviors, health care access and utilization, and family well-being and stressors.
Results:
A total of 174 551 children were included (annual range = 21 599 to 50 212). Between 2016 and 2020, there were increases in anxiety (7.1% [95% CI, 6.6-7.6] to 9.2% [95% CI, 8.6-9.8]; +29%; trend P < .001) and depression (3.1% [95% CI, 2.9-3.5] to 4.0% [95% CI, 3.6-4.5]; +27%; trend P < .001). There were also decreases in daily physical activity (24.2% [95% CI, 23.1-25.3] to 19.8% [95% CI, 18.9-20.8]; -18%; trend P < .001), parent or caregiver mental health (69.8% [95% CI, 68.9-70.8] to 66.3% [95% CI, 65.3-67.3]; -5%; trend P < .001), and coping with parenting demands (67.2% [95% CI, 66.3-68.1] to 59.9% [95% CI, 58.8-60.9]; -11%; trend P < .001). In addition, from 2019 to 2020, there were increases in behavior or conduct problems (6.7% [95% CI, 6.1-7.4] to 8.1% [95% CI, 7.5-8.8]; +21%; P = .001) and child care disruptions affecting parental employment (9.4% [95% CI, 8.0-10.9] to 12.6% [95% CI, 11.2-14.1]; +34%; trend P = .001) as well as decreases in preventive medical visits (81.0% [95% CI, 79.7-82.3] to 74.1% [95% CI, 72.9-75.3]; -9%; trend P < .001).
Conclusions And Relevance:
Recent trends point to several areas of concern that can inform future research, clinical care, policy decision making, and programmatic investments to improve the health and well-being of children and their families. More analyses are needed to elucidate varying patterns within subpopulations of interest.
Related Concept Videos
01:29Issues And Trends In Healthcare Delivery System
Cost Containment
Payment for healthcare services has historically promoted adoption of costly and often unnecessary or inefficient...
01:30Current Trends in Nursing II
01:26Levels of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention
In primary prevention, actions taken before disease onset prevent the disease from...
01:18Factors Affecting Illness
For instance, risk factors are connected to illness,...
01:29Concepts of Health and Illness
01:21Dimensions of Health and Illness