Latest news with #NCHS
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Rep. Pugh introduces bill to study 'forever chemical' effects
Apr. 7—HARRISBURG — Rep. Brenda Pugh on Monday said an analysis of data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) estimates that at least 95% of Americans have PFAS chemicals in their bodies. Pugh, R-Dallas Township, introduced legislation that would direct the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to conduct a study to better understand the potential risks that certain land-applied biosolid chemicals pose to the environment, food and water supply, and potential mitigation measures to reduce these chemical levels. Pugh said the chemicals are known as PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — and are a large group of nearly 15,000 synthetic chemicals that have seen wide use in consumer products since the 1940s. Pugh said PFAS are generally highly durable and water-resistant, and as a result are referred to as "forever chemicals" that can persist in the environment, water, air, soil and even the human body for long periods of time. "Because of the many kinds of PFAS, and their wide range of uses, they are difficult to study," Pugh said. "However, many studies have found that exposure to certain types of PFAS can have serious impacts on human health, including decreased fertility, developmental delays in children, increased risk of certain cancers, hormone disruption, inhibited immune system responses and more. Pugh added that while federal and state agencies have taken effective steps that already have or are estimated to reduce the levels of PFAS exposure of Americans, there are still many sources of exposure that are not well understood. "Ingesting contaminated food and water is one of the most common avenues of human exposure, which makes it critical that we fully understand how these chemicals enter our food and water supplies," Pugh said. House Bill 1116 has been referred to the Environmental and Natural Resources Protection Committee. Pugh said all residents are encouraged to contact their legislators and encourage their support of this bill. Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
More older women becoming first-time moms amid U.S. fertility rate declines
Amid growing evidence of slowing fertility rates in the United States, a new report contained a pair of surprising details from two divergent age groups: A growing number of women older than 40 are having children and a record low number of teenagers are giving birth. The report, released earlier this month by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), showed that the U.S. fertility rate — the average number of children born to a woman during her reproductive years — continued its decadeslong slide through 2023, with American women having an average of 1.62 children, compared to 1.66 in 2021 and 2022. Overall, the rate has declined 14% since 1990, driven largely by younger women under the age of 30 who are having fewer children. For the first time in 2023, there were more births among women 40 and older than there were to teenage girls, a trend which aligns with both long-sought public health goals of decreasing teen births, while reflecting medical advancements which have allowed older women to have healthy pregnancies. 'There's a flip in the age distribution,' said Elizabeth Wildsmith, a family demographer and sociologist at Child Trends, a nonpartisan research group. In 1990, adolescents accounted for almost 13% of all births; in 2023, they made up 4%. And most critically, the fertility rate for girls ages 10 to 14 dropped from 1.4 to almost zero, something Wildsmith called 'a success story' from a public health perspective. At the same time, demographers are still trying to discern why women are choosing to become pregnant and give birth later. The most recent data show that most births now occur to women ages 30 to 34, while a decade ago the cohort that was most likely to give birth was 25 to 29. As the average maternal age has increased, far more women ages 35 and older are also having children, according to the NCHS, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which tallies all known births in the U.S. From 1990 to 2023, the fertility rate for women ages 35 to 39 increased 71%, and for women ages 40 to 44, the rate increased 127%. Researchers say that there are a number of possible explanations for the gradual increase in the age of new mothers, including evolving social expectations and values; changes in technology and dating behavior; the economic burden of child rearing; and increasing college enrollment among women. 'All of those conditions shape when people want to start having children,' said Wildsmith, who also noted that when 'women are able to control their fertility,' other opportunities — including professional, political and economic — become easier to access. Teen births drop sharply While the national decline in teen births has been hailed by public health officials, that decrease has not been uniform across all states, according to federal data. Southern states from West Virginia to Texas have higher rates of teen births than other regions, and the teen birth rate in Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana is double that of the national rate. In Mississippi, for example, 53% of high school students did not use a condom the last time they had sex, according to a state youth risk behavior survey. Teen mothers are less likely to complete high school and, in Mississippi, about half of teen girls who give birth receive a high school diploma. Still, the teen birth rate in Mississippi has dropped precipitously from 46.1 in 2012 to 23.6 in 2021, according to state data. Dr. Samuel Jones, a family practice physician and the clinic director at the student health center at Jackson State University, said students can receive free or low-cost contraceptives, including birth control pills and long-acting methods such as injections and patches. 'We are advocates for healthy children,' he said. 'Unplanned pregnancies may have an effect on our college students. They are career bound, and many are dating for the first time.' Jones, who has practiced family medicine long enough in Mississippi that patients he knew as children are now parents themselves, says longer term contraceptives, including Depo Provera, an injectable long-acting birth control, have proved popular with teen patients -- and their parents. 'The pills were somewhat problematic because the dropout rate was higher,' he said, adding that routine shots of Depo Provera give many parents peace of mind that their children will be protected from unplanned pregnancy. The Affordable Care Act, signed by then-President Barack Obama in 2010, ushered in a new era of teen pregnancy prevention. The federal law required that preventative health care, which included all contraceptive products, be included with no co-pays or deductibles. States with the lowest teen birth rates include New England, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Utah, Washington, California and Wisconsin, where there seems to be a connection between lower rates and comprehensive sex education, said Dr. Aisha Mays, founder of the Dream Youth Clinic in Oakland, California, and a clinical researcher with the UCSF Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health. Elements of those programs include medically accurate education about fertility anatomy, contraception, sexual consent and sexual readiness. And just as vital for teens, she said, is insurance coverage and access to contraception without parental consent 'so that young people can talk freely with a medical provider.' While many women become pregnant without medical intervention, advances in reproductive technology and expanded insurance coverage for fertility preservation and treatment have allowed women and couples to 'prioritize their career and life goals,' said Dr. Arianna Cassidy, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at University of California, San Francisco. The risk of various pregnancy and fetal complications increases incrementally for women over age 35, she said. That includes the risk of certain genetic and chromosomal abnormalities including Down syndrome, and the risk of pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes and postpartum hemorrhage. 'There's not a switch that goes on at age 35 where all these things are going to happen, it's more of a continuum,' she said. Some of those risks can be mitigated with proactive medical care such as taking baby aspirin during pregnancy for those with risk factors for pre-eclampsia; prescribing medication to control blood pressure and gestational diabetes; and better awareness about the dangers of postpartum hemorrhage. Adverse outcomes are still rare. The risk of pre-eclampsia, a dangerous hypertensive disorder that is poorly understood but remains a leading cause of maternal and perinatal mortality worldwide, is less than 5% among the general population of pregnant women. Among women older than 40, Cassidy said, the risk doubles to about 10%. 'We're seeing more and more people who come into pregnancy in their 40s who already have high blood pressure, kidney disease or diabetes,' she said. 'Age is not a modifiable thing.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
18-03-2025
- Health
- NBC News
More older women becoming first-time moms amid U.S. fertility rate declines
Amid growing evidence of slowing fertility rates in the United States, a new report contained a pair of surprising details from two divergent age groups: A growing number of women older than 40 are having children and a record low number of teenagers are giving birth. The report, released earlier this month by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), showed that the U.S. fertility rate — the average number of children born to a woman during her reproductive years — continued its decadeslong slide through 2023, with American women having an average of 1.62 children, compared to 1.66 in 2021 and 2022. Overall, the rate has declined 14% since 1990, driven largely by younger women under the age of 30 who are having fewer children. For the first time in 2023, there were more births among women 40 and older than there were to teenage girls, a trend which aligns with both long-sought public health goals of decreasing teen births, while reflecting medical advancements which have allowed older women to have healthy pregnancies. 'There's a flip in the age distribution,' said Elizabeth Wildsmith, a family demographer and sociologist at Child Trends, a nonpartisan research group. In 1990, adolescents accounted for almost 13% of all births; in 2023, they made up 4%. And most critically, the fertility rate for girls ages 10 to 14 dropped from 1.4 to almost zero, something Wildsmith called 'a success story' from a public health perspective. At the same time, demographers are still trying to discern why women are choosing to become pregnant and give birth later. The most recent data show that most births now occur to women ages 30 to 34, while a decade ago the cohort that was most likely to give birth was 25 to 29. As the average maternal age has increased, far more women ages 35 and older are also having children, according to the NCHS, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which tallies all known births in the U.S. From 1990 to 2023, the fertility rate for women ages 35 to 39 increased 71%, and for women ages 40 to 44, the rate increased 127%. Researchers say that there are a number of possible explanations for the gradual increase in the age of new mothers, including evolving social expectations and values; changes in technology and dating behavior; the economic burden of child rearing; and increasing college enrollment among women. 'All of those conditions shape when people want to start having children,' said Wildsmith, who also noted that when 'women are able to control their fertility,' other opportunities — including professional, political and economic — become easier to access. Teen births drop sharply While the national decline in teen births has been hailed by public health officials, that decrease has not been uniform across all states, according to federal data. Southern states from West Virginia to Texas have higher rates of teen births than other regions, and the teen birth rate in Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana is double that of the national rate. In Mississippi, for example, 53% of high school students did not use a condom the last time they had sex, according to a state youth risk behavior survey. Teen mothers are less likely to complete high school and, in Mississippi, about half of teen girls who give birth receive a high school diploma. Still, the teen birth rate in Mississippi has dropped precipitously from 46.1 in 2012 to 23.6 in 2021, according to state data. Dr. Samuel Jones, a family practice physician and the clinic director at the student health center at Jackson State University, said students can receive free or low-cost contraceptives, including birth control pills and long-acting methods such as injections and patches. 'We are advocates for healthy children,' he said. 'Unplanned pregnancies may have an effect on our college students. They are career bound, and many are dating for the first time.' Jones, who has practiced family medicine long enough in Mississippi that patients he knew as children are now parents themselves, says longer term contraceptives, including Depo Provera, an injectable long-acting birth control, have proved popular with teen patients -- and their parents. 'The pills were somewhat problematic because the dropout rate was higher,' he said, adding that routine shots of Depo Provera give many parents peace of mind that their children will be protected from unplanned pregnancy. The Affordable Care Act, signed by then-President Barack Obama in 2010, ushered in a new era of teen pregnancy prevention. The federal law required that preventative health care, which included all contraceptive products, be included with no co-pays or deductibles. States with the lowest teen birth rates include New England, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Utah, Washington, California and Wisconsin, where there seems to be a connection between lower rates and comprehensive sex education, said Dr. Aisha Mays, founder of the Dream Youth Clinic in Oakland, California, and a clinical researcher with the UCSF Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health. Elements of those programs include medically accurate education about fertility anatomy, contraception, sexual consent and sexual readiness. And just as vital for teens, she said, is insurance coverage and access to contraception without parental consent 'so that young people can talk freely with a medical provider.' Complications may increase with age While many women become pregnant without medical intervention, advances in reproductive technology and expanded insurance coverage for fertility preservation and treatment have allowed women and couples to 'prioritize their career and life goals,' said Dr. Arianna Cassidy, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at University of California, San Francisco. The risk of various pregnancy and fetal complications increases incrementally for women over age 35, she said. That includes the risk of certain genetic and chromosomal abnormalities including Down syndrome, and the risk of pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes and postpartum hemorrhage. 'There's not a switch that goes on at age 35 where all these things are going to happen, it's more of a continuum,' she said. Some of those risks can be mitigated with proactive medical care such as taking baby aspirin during pregnancy for those with risk factors for pre-eclampsia; prescribing medication to control blood pressure and gestational diabetes; and better awareness about the dangers of postpartum hemorrhage. Adverse outcomes are still rare. The risk of pre-eclampsia, a dangerous hypertensive disorder that is poorly understood but remains a leading cause of maternal and perinatal mortality worldwide, is less than 5% among the general population of pregnant women. Among women older than 40, Cassidy said, the risk doubles to about 10%. 'We're seeing more and more people who come into pregnancy in their 40s who already have high blood pressure, kidney disease or diabetes,' she said. 'Age is not a modifiable thing.'
Washington Post
10-03-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
More than 15 percent of young adults used e-cigarettes in 2023
Over 15 percent (15.5) of young adults ages 21 to 24 used electronic cigarettes in 2023, according to a report from the National Center for Health Statistics. To determine trends in vaping, data was drawn from the 2019-2023 National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative household survey of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population. Collected continually throughout the year by the NCHS, interviews are conducted face-to-face in respondents' homes.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Just have more babies? The deceptively complicated problem of the record-low U.S. fertility rate.
The U.S. fertility rate — the average number of children each woman gives birth to — fell 22% between 1990 and 2023, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). It's not a new trend; the decline began in 2007, just ahead of the 2008 recession. Coupled with the rapidly aging American population, the falling fertility rate has long made policymakers nervous about draining Social Security funds and generally causing economic turmoil due to a shrinking labor force. Is the solution that Americans should be having more babies? And should we be worried about the drop in fertility rates in the first place? The problem is more complex than that, according to three experts who think about shifting demographics, populations and fertility for a living. In 1990, each woman had an average of 2.08 children. By 2023, that figure had fallen to 1.62. The number of babies born each year has fallen by 14% over the same time frame, resulting in 562,195 fewer births in 2023 compared to 1990. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. That decline is driven by a dramatic fall in the number of teenagers having babies. In 1990, 1.4 babies were born to every 1,000 girls between ages 10 and 14. By 2023, that number had fallen to just 0.2. And the birth rate per 1,000 women between ages 15 and 19 fell by 78%. Historically, low teenage pregnancy and birth rates are considered a public health win. 'If a teenaged person gets pregnant and wants to keep the baby, they should have that right, but most teen pregnancies are unintended or unwanted, and it's absolutely a good thing that people are getting good at preventing births they don't want to have,' Leslie Root, a demographer and associate director of the Colorado University Population Center, tells Yahoo Life. The reduction in unintended teen pregnancies is thanks in large part to better contraceptives and improved access to them for young women. Fewer teenage pregnancies means those young women are more likely to graduate high school, remain in good health and avoid poverty — positive indicators for their individual lives and for the economy. But the downturn in teenagers having children also contributes to an overall birth shortage. Despite increases in the number of babies born to women in their 30s and 40s, there aren't enough births among these age groups to make up for the babies teens aren't having. That presents a problem because it puts the fertility rate below 2.1 children per woman, a figure known as the rate of replacement. The rate of replacement is the result of some very simple population math: It takes two children to 'replace' each of their two parents in order to maintain the future population (plus the .01 to account for the possibility of children dying young). Currently, the fertility rate is at 1.62 children per woman. That's too few to replace the number of parents in the population as they retire and, eventually, die. Maintaining the number of people in a nation's population — or the global population, for that matter — is mostly important for economic reasons. If there are more nonworking retired people or children than there are working-age people, Social Security funds will get depleted, and there won't be enough people paying into them to restore the coffers. 'I think there is reason for concern,' Phillip Levine, a Wellesley College economics professor, tells Yahoo Life. 'Having a birth rate this low definitely has implications for society more broadly, including economic activity.' Fewer workers are likely to generate less output. When populations shrink, creativity and innovation sometimes slow. 'And our Social Security system is completely dependent upon there being more children' who will grow up to contribute to the retirement safety net, says Levine. For starters, this isn't new. Fertility rates have been declining for nearly 20 years in the U.S., and we haven't been above the rate of replacement since 2007. The phenomenon also isn't unique to American families. The global fertility rate is falling, and the rate is below replacement level in about two-thirds of countries. That's not altogether bad. 'My overall take on it is that the falling fertility rates around the world and throughout history is great,' Philip Cohen, a University of Maryland professor of sociology, tells Yahoo Life. 'It's been incredibly important for social progress, it increases opportunities for children, gives people more choices for how to run their families and has opened up the professional world for women.' The greater share of women in the labor force is a boon for the economy too, and means more income tax dollars paid into state and federal budgets. But eventually, the ratios will flip. Women (and men) who are working now will retire. The important thing for maintaining a stable population isn't so much the number of babies, but the ratio of working to nonworking people. That ratio was actually furthest out of balance following the arrival of baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, when less than 50% of Americans were of working age. In 2023, just shy of 54% of Americans were working age. But as boomers reach retirement age and birth rates remain low, there will be fewer newly adult workers to replace those boomers. In order to ensure economic stability, the U.S. will need more workers. There are two main ways to ensure the U.S. population — or any country's — doesn't shrink, experts tell Yahoo Life: babies and immigration. Since 2015, immigrants and their children have accounted for most of the growth in the working-age population of the U.S. It's by far the easiest and fastest way to grow the population. In 2022, 77% of immigrants to the U.S. were of working age, compared to 58% of U.S.-born population. Immigrants, by and large, arrive as ready-to-work adults. On the other hand, making babies into workers is a slow, expensive process. 'Producing more babies today is going to cost you trillions more dollars before they reach working age,' which takes upwards of 18 years, says Cohen. And, coupled with the rising number of baby boomers leaving the workforce, 'the birth rate rising now would only make things worse' because it would mean more dependents,' he adds. 'The only problem for the American birthrate and the population size is if you prefer American babies to immigrant workers.' In this sense, increasing the birth rate is the simpler option. 'Immigration is something that can quickly fill spots in the workforce, but it is, and always has been, political,' Jennifer Sciubba, a demographer and author of 8 Billion and Counting: How Sex, Death and Migration Shape Our World, tells Yahoo Life. Demography experts agree that governmental efforts to incentivize people to have children, also known as pronatalist policies — such as paid parental leave, free early child care and child tax credits — are generally good for society. Other countries with declining birth rates and populations, including Japan, Finland, China and Hungary, have tried to institute pronatalist policies to encourage population growth, but, Sciubba says: 'We don't see a lot of success with countries that put into place pronatalist policies in actually turning around birth rates,' says Sciubba. 'There's not a lot that country governments can actually do.' While there's reason to be concerned about the national and global declines in population, Cohen says it's unrealistic to expect the problem to be solved by telling people to have more children. It might work at the margins, but is unlikely to persuade enough families to meaningfully move the birth-rate needle. 'People don't have children for the greater good," he says. "They never did.'
