Child Health

Health status

• Percent of children aged 5-11 years who are in excellent or very good health: 84.8%

Source: Summary Health Statistics Tables for U.S. Children: National Health Interview Survey, 2015, Table C-5c [PDF – 107 KB]

• Percent of children aged 5-11 years who missed 11 or more days of school in the past 12 months because of illness or injury: 3.2%

Source: Summary Health Statistics Tables for U.S. Children: National Health Interview Survey, 2015, Table C-6c [PDF – 142 KB]

Obesity

• Percent of children aged 6-11 years who are obese: 17.4% (2013-2014)

Source: Health, United States, 2016, table 53 [PDF – 9.8 MB]

Health insurance coverage

• Percent of children under age 18 years without health insurance: 5.1%

Source: Early release of selected estimates based on data from the 2016 National Health Interview Survey, table 1.1b [PDF – 1.1 MB]

Access to care

• Percent of children under age 18 years without a usual source of health care: 4.0%

Source: Summary Health Statistics Tables for U.S. Children: National Health Interview Survey, 2015, Table C-7c [PDF – 178 KB]

Mortality

Children aged 1-4 years

• Number of deaths: 3,830
• Deaths per 100,000 population: 24.0

Children aged 5-14 years

• Number of deaths: 5,250
• Deaths per 100,000 population: 12.7

Source: Deaths: Final Data for 2014, tables 10, 11 [PDF – 4.4 MB]

Leading causes of death

Children aged 1-4 years

• Accidents (unintentional injuries)
• Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities
• Assault (Homicide)

Children aged 5-14 years

• Accidents (unintentional injuries)
• Cancer
• Intentional self-harm (suicide)

Source: Deaths: Final Data for 2014, table 10 [PDF – 4.4 MB]