U.S. report: teen pregnancies up, 8th grade smoking down, 9% asthma in children

William Atkins
Saturday, 12 July 2008 19:19

Science - Health

The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics released the tenth edition of its report "America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2008” on Friday, July 11, 2008. We have both good and bad news to report.


According to its website, “The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics (Forum) is a collection of 22 Federal government agencies involved in research and activities related to children and families. The Forum was founded in 1994 and formally established in April 1997 under Executive Order No. 13045. The mission of the Forum is to foster coordination and collaboration and to enhance and improve consistency in the collection and reporting of Federal data on children and families. The Forum also aims to improve the reporting and dissemination of information on the status of children and families.”

Although some statistics are going in the right direction, such as reduced smoking among eighth-grade children, other figures are unfortunately going in the wrong direction, such as rates of obesity in children.

In reference to the bad data, Edward J. Sondik, Director of the National Center for Health Statistics in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said: "We hope that policy-makers will turn their efforts to try to understand more what these differences are due to and reduce them.” [CNN News: “Report: Teen pregnancies up for first time in 15 years.”

Among the highlights of the U.S.-based report are:

•    Vaccinations: About 81% of children ages 19 to 35 months have had the recommended combined series of five vaccinations.

•    2005 Teenager Birth Rate: Decline in the birth rate for teens 15 to 17 years of age, was at a record low in 2005—the number of births was about 133,000, or 21 for every 1,000 girls. Overall, in 2005, the birth rate for teens dropped by 40% in the past fifteen years. The rate for Black, non-Hispanic teens had the largest decline, down by 60%. However, the birth rate for black teens is about three times that for white, non-Hispanics. The rate for Hispanics is four times the rate for white, non-Hispanic teens.

•    2006 Teenager Birth Rate: The birth rate for teens 15 to 17 years of age rose to nearly 139,000, or 22 for every 1,000 girls, in 2006. Teen pregnancies rose in the United States for the first time since 1991. Pregnant teens aged 15 to 19 years are less likely to get prenatal care and gain appropriate weight, and are more likely to smoke than pregnant women aged 20 years or older. About 33% of girls in the United States got pregnant before the age of 20 years, and more than 435,000 babies were born to teenagers between 15 and 19 years in 2006.

•    Unmarried 20s-40s Birth Rate: Rates of unmarried childbearing for women in their twenties, thirties and early forties are increasing. Rates are highest for unmarried women 20 to 24 years, followed next by women 25 to 29 years of age. Children of unmarried mothers are at a higher risk of having negative birth outcomes and are more likely to live in poverty than children of married mothers.

Please turn to page two for additional information on second-hand smoke, cigarette smoking, and more data on children.