American kids have become increasingly unhealthy over nearly two decades, new study finds

Associated Press

6 days ago

The health of U.S. children has deteriorated over the past 17 years, with kids today more likely to have obesity, chronic diseases and mental health problems like depression, a new study says.
Much of what researchers found was already known, but the study paints a comprehensive picture by examining various aspects of children's physical and mental health at the same time.
'The surprising part of the study wasn't any with any single statistic; it was that there's 170 indicators, eight data sources, all showing the same thing: a generalized decline in kids' health,' said Dr. Christopher Forrest, one of the authors of the study published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has brought children's health to the forefront of the national policy conversation, unveiling in May a much-anticipated 'Make America Healthy Again' report 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 health agencies, Medicaid and scientific research — are not likely to reverse the trend, according to outside experts who reviewed Monday's study.
'The health 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,' said 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 study.
Forrest and his colleagues analyzed surveys, electronic health records from 10 pediatric health systems and international mortality statistics. Among their findings:
The research points to bigger problems with America's health, said Forrest, who is a pediatrician at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
'Kids are the canaries in the coal mine,' he said. ' When kids' health changes, it's because they're at increased vulnerability, and it reflects what's happening in society at large.'
The timing of the study, he said, is 'completely fortuitous.' Well before the 2024 presidential election, Forrest was working on a book about thriving over the life span and couldn't find this sort of comprehensive data on children's health.
The datasets analyzed have some 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 study.
'The basic finding is true,' he said.
The editorial published alongside the study said 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 health 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.
Officials from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Forrest said risks highlighted by the MAHA report, such as eating too much ultra-processed food, are real but miss the complex reality driving trends in children's health.
'We have to step back and take some lessons from the ecological sustainability community 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 said.
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