Good health is fundamental to a child’s overall development—and ensuring that kids are born healthy is the first step toward improving their life chances.
Poor health, on the other hand, affects critical aspects of a child’s life, including school readiness and attendance. Exposure to violence, family stress, inadequate housing, poor nutrition, a lack of preventative care and growing up in poverty — among other factors — can put a child’s health at risk and exact lasting consequences.
If children and families have health care, they are more likely to get the care they need and get it when they need it. Nationwide, only 5% of kids lack health insurance, and — over the last three decades — the share of children without health insurance has shrunk by 62%.
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In this episode of CaseyCast, Lisa Hamilton interviews David Nichols, who is a pediatrician and president and CEO of the American Board of Pediatrics. Their conversation covers a wide range of topics, including the rise in mental health issues among kids, the importance of the 2020 census and the pivotal role that parents play in child well-being.
The Casey Foundation's 2019 KIDS COUNT Data Book looks at how the child population has changed since 1990, as well as trends in child well-being over a recent period that saw continued improvement in economic well-being. Read the report to learn more.