MDNews - Greater Boston

STATISTICS PAINT A SIMULTANEOUSLY HOPEFUL AND TROUBLING PICTURE OF CHILDREN'S HE ALTH, BOTH DOMESTICALLY AND ABROAD. THE AIR THAT THEY BREATHE While cha llenges related to pollution a nd second ha nd smoke rema in, the quality of air that children breathe has improved signifi cantly. In 2012, more tha n two-thirds of U.S. chi ldren lived in counties where a polluta nt exceeded federa l a ir qua l- it y sta nda rds at lea st once. That had dropped to 50% by 2013. Tests of blood cotinine levels indicate that far fewer children ages 4–11 are being exposed to secondhand smoke. From 1988–1994, almost nine in 10 children breathed secondhand smoke. Two decades later, that had fallen to 40%. SEDENTARY BLUES Inactivity is a hallmark of modern American childhood. + Whether T V, a computer or some other device, screen viewing takes up more than seven hours of the average child's day. + On a typical school day, approximately a third of high schoolers play some type of computer or video game for at least three hours. + Only one-third of children are physically active on a daily basis. + Most states do not require PE classes in all grades. The six exceptions: Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York and Vermont. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 66% 18% 14% 52% 41% 6% The number of U.S. children on government health insurance is fast approaching the number who are on private insurance. LEANING ON GOVERNMENT ■ Private insurance In 1993 ■ Public insurance In 1993 ■ Uninsured in 1993 ■ Private insurance In 2014 ■ Public insurance In 2014 ■ Uninsured in 2014 IMMUNIZATION DEFICIT 21.6 million children of that age had not been administered a measles vaccine. Sources: ChildStats.gov; The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation; President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition; UNICEF; WHO APPROXIMATELY children who were under the age of 1 at the beginning of 2014 had not been given the recommended vaccination against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. 22 million WORLDWIDE, NEARLY SURVIVORS Globally, almost 6 million children under age 5 died in 2015. However, that number stood at 12.7 million in 1990. The improving mortality rate represents a drop from 35,000 deaths per day to 16,000. Neonatal, infectious or nutritional conditions cause the overwhelming majority of deaths — more than four in five — among children younger than age 5. PEDI AT RIC SN A P SH O T BY STEVE BARRETT M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S S O U T H O F B O S T O N ■ 2 016 0 9 D A T A V A U LT ❰❰❰❰❰ 0 9

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