Children

Census 2000 counted 72.3 million Americans, or 26% of the U.S. population, under age 18⁴⁷. In 2001, over 4 million babies were born in the United States⁴⁸. Racial and ethnic minorities account for almost 40% of all children⁴⁹. In 1999, almost 17% of children lived in families with incomes below the poverty level compared with 11% of adults⁵⁰.

In 2002, black children and American Indian or Alaska Native children had death rates about 1.5 to 2 times higher than white children. Black infants were more than twice as likely to die during their first year than white infants⁵¹. In 1996, Hispanic children were over twice as likely to report fair or poor health than non-Hispanic white children⁵².

Quality of health care among children varies by race, ethnicity, and SES⁵³. Differences have been observed in childhood immunization⁵⁴, management of asthma⁵⁵, and evaluation and treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder⁵⁶. Access to health care among children also varies by race, ethnicity, and SES. Rates of uninsurance and public coverage⁵⁷; getting a routine appointment as soon as wanted, receiving needed care, and patient experiences during care⁵⁸; rating of health care⁵⁹; and health care utilization and expenditures ⁶⁰ differ among children by race, ethnicity, and SES.

Many measures of relevance to children are tracked in the NHDR. Findings presented here seek to highlight conditions and topics of particular importance to children's quality of and access to health care including:

• Vaccinations
• Obesity
• Asthma
• Patient safety
• Health insurance
• Patient-provider communication

In addition, the final section of this chapter, which discusses individuals with special health care needs, focuses on children this year. In that section, data from the 2001 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs are presented to assess disparities among this group of children.

Return to Contents