American kids have become increasingly unhealthy over nearly two decades, new study finds
By LAURA UNGAR and JONEL ALECCIA The healthcare of U S children has deteriorated over the past years with kids in the present day more likely to have obesity chronic diseases and mental soundness problems like depression a new assessment says Much of what researchers detected was already known but the scrutiny paints a comprehensive picture by examining various aspects of children s physical and mental wellbeing at the same time The surprising part of the investigation wasn t any with any single statistic it was that there s indicators eight records sources all showing the same thing a generalized decline in kids vitality revealed Dr Christopher Forrest one of the authors of the evaluation published Monday in the Journal of the American Therapeutic Association Physical condition Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has brought children s robustness to the forefront of the national protocol conversation unveiling in May a much-anticipated Make America Healthy Again document that described kids as undernourished and overmedicated and raised concerns about their lack of physical activity But the Trump administration s actions including cuts to federal wellbeing agencies Medicaid and scientific research are not likely to reverse the trend according to outside experts who reviewed Monday s review The medical of kids in America is not as good as it should be not as good as the other countries and the current policies of this administration are definitely going to make it worse noted Dr Frederick Rivara a pediatrician and researcher at the Seattle Children s Hospital and UW Medicine in Seattle He co-authored an editorial accompanying the new analysis Forrest and his colleagues analyzed surveys electronic medical records from pediatric physical condition systems and international mortality statistics Among their findings Obesity rates for U S children - years old rose from in - to about in - A U S child in was to more likely than a U S child in to have a chronic condition such as anxiety depression or sleep apnea according to figures revealed by parents and doctors Annual prevalence rates for chronic conditions recorded by doctors rose from about in to about in Early onset of menstruation trouble sleeping limitations in activity physical reactions depressive responses and loneliness also increased among American kids during the inquiry period American children were around times more likely to die than kids in other high-income countries from - Being born premature and sudden unexpected death were much higher among U S infants and firearm-related incidents and motor bus crashes were much more common among - -year-old American kids than among those the same age in other countries examined The research points to bigger problems with America s vitality announced Forrest who is a pediatrician at the Children s Hospital of Philadelphia Kids are the canaries in the coal mine he mentioned When kids fitness changes it s because they re at increased vulnerability and it reflects what s happening in society at large The timing of the analysis he revealed is utterly fortuitous Well before the presidential voting process Forrest was working on a book about thriving over the life span and couldn t find this sort of comprehensive records on children s wellness The datasets analyzed have various limitations and may not be applicable to the full U S population noted Dr James Perrin a pediatrician and spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics who wasn t involved in the survey The basic finding is true he noted The editorial published alongside the review stated while the administration s MAHA movement is bringing welcome attention to chronic diseases it is pursuing other policies that will work against the interests of children Those include eliminating injury prevention and maternal medical programs canceling investments in a campaign addressing sudden infant death and fueling vaccine hesitancy among parents that may lead to a resurgence of deadly vaccine-preventable diseases authors wrote Related Articles How to protect yourself from ticks year-round Essentia hospital nurses in Duluth Superior avoid strike Thinking about taking a stab at IV therapy Ask particular questions first Burns and fireworks injuries What to do when seconds count this July th Twin Cities nurses avoid strike with tentative contract agreement Representatives from the U S Healthcare and Human Services Department did not respond to a request for comment Forrest reported risks highlighted by the MAHA account such as eating too much ultra-processed food are real but miss the complex reality driving trends in children s wellness We have to step back and take particular lessons from the ecological sustainability district and say Let s look at the ecosystem that kids are growing up in And let s start on a kind of neighborhood-by-neighborhood city-by-city basis examining it he disclosed The Associated Press Strength and Science Department receives advocacy from the Howard Hughes Anatomical Institute s Department of Science Coaching and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation The AP is solely responsible for all content
