New study says health of children in U.S. has deteriorated over the past 17 years

New study says health of U.S. children has deteriorated over the past 17 years

New study says health of U.S. children has deteriorated over the past 17 years 02:17

A concerning new study says the health of children in the United States has deteriorated over the past 17 years, with kids today being more likely to have chronic diseases and mental health problems.

A local doctor from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was part of the research team for the study published by the American Medical Association, which says kids in the U.S. are facing some big challenges.

There's fun and laughter on this playground in Feltonville, but new research says the health of children in the U.S. is declining.

"It's really speaking to the tremendous languishing of our kids," said Dr. Christopher Forrest, who works at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Forrest was one of the authors of the study that compared pediatric death rates among the high-income countries.

"A child in the United States was 80% more likely to die than a child in those 18 countries," he said. 

Forrest said babies are most vulnerable, dying from things like premature births and SIDS.

"Older kids are more likely to die by guns — 15 times more likely. They're five times more likely to die from an overdose,  they're more likely to die from car crashes," he said.

The study also found a growing number of health-related issues. Obesity rates for people under the age of 19 are up to 21%.

"Obesity is the second most common cause of cancer in this country," Forrest said.

The research found that for chronic conditions, kids now are 15% to 20% more likely to have things like anxiety, depression and sleep apnea than they were a decade ago.

"Behind every statistic, there are thousands, in some cases millions of kids, so it's been really challenging," Forrest said.

Forrest says the research did not find a single cause for the health decline of kids, but he says the issue needs urgent attention.

"Thinking about how we're parenting kids, thinking about the kind of play that kids are engaging in, or not engaging in, the food environment, the school systems that kids are involved in," he said.

The research did not account for socioeconomic differences, age, gender or race. The research, which used electronic health records and international surveys, also found that American children have limited physical activity and growing feelings of loneliness.

• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
• Mental Health