Study: U.S. Children’s Health Has Declined Sharply Over Two Decades
A new study has found that children’s health in the United States has steadily deteriorated over the past 17 years, with rising rates of obesity, chronic illnesses, and mental health issues.
The findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, draw from 170 health indicators across eight data sources, painting one of the most comprehensive pictures yet of the crisis facing America’s youth.
“This wasn’t about one shocking number,” said Dr. Christopher Forrest, lead author and pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “It’s that all the data is pointing in the same direction: a generalized decline in children’s health.”
Key Findings Include
- Obesity among children aged 2–19 rose from 17% in 2007–2008 to 21% in 2021–2023.
- Children in 2023 were 15–20% more likely to suffer from chronic conditions like anxiety, depression, or sleep apnea compared to children in 2011.
- The prevalence of 97 chronic conditions recorded by doctors increased from 40% in 2011 to 46% in 2023.
- Reports of early puberty, trouble sleeping, physical limitations, depression, and loneliness also surged.
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From 2007 to 2022, American children were nearly twice as likely to die as their peers in other high-income nations, largely due to premature births, firearm deaths, and car accidents.
Dr. Forrest emphasized that the health of children is a reflection of deeper societal issues. “Children are the canaries in the coal mine,” he said. “When their health declines, it’s because their environment is failing them.”
Policy Concerns
The study lands just months after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released his “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) report, which described American children as undernourished and overmedicated, with too little physical activity.
While that report has sparked national conversation, researchers argue that current federal policies undermine any chance of meaningful change.
Dr. Frederick Rivara of Seattle Children’s Hospital, co-author of an editorial accompanying the study, warned: “The current policies of this administration are definitely going to make it worse.”
Criticisms include budget cuts to Medicaid, maternal health, and injury prevention programs, as well as actions that promote vaccine hesitancy, potentially increasing risks for preventable diseases.
Call to Action
Dr. Forrest advocates for an “ecosystem approach,” urging communities to address children’s health neighborhood by neighborhood and city by city, moving beyond blame to a deeper examination of the conditions children live in.
