A major new study exposed a shocking new statistic today – more than half of American children will develop some kind of chronic health condition like obesity, asthma or a learning disability. The study, which will be published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that fifty one percent of kids nationwide will suffer from a health problem that persists more than twelve months. Many of those problems will affect them for their entire lives.
The study uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The survey split five thousand children into three groups and studied them in six year increments between 1988 and 2006. Conditions were categorized in four groups: obesity, behavioral problems, asthma and other physical conditions (which includes things like asthma). In 1994, twelve percent of the kids in the first group had a chronic ailment. By 2006, when the study of the third group finished, more than fifty percent had been sick at some point during the six year interval.
Boys in the study were more likely than girls to be ill. Risks also varied by race: African American children had a forty six percent chance, Latino kids a forty two percent chance and Caucasian kids a thirty six percent chance.
The dangers of the rising obesity levels in children have already been widely noted, but this study makes it clear that obesity isn’t the only problem facing our kids – children are generally sicker than they were before. Dr. Jeanne Van Cleave, lead author of the study, puts the blame on two main factors: better diagnosis rates and kids living in “toxic environments.” “Children are less active, plugged into computers, and they’re eating poorly,” she told AOL News. “Not to mention air quality, family lifestyle, increased stress compared to a decade ago, and other environmental factors that can influence the health of children and adults.”
So what can you do to help your kids stay healthy, or help they recover if they get sick? This study provides no clear answers, but the well known rules of thumb clearly still apply – keep them active, feed them healthy food, keep them from watching too much TV and, most importantly, pay attention.
