New Report: America’s Health Starts With Healthy Children

Posted by on November 3, 2008

States compared on link between children’s health and parents’ income, education

States Ranked By Size of Gaps in Key Child Health Measures; Children in Less-Advantaged Families Fare Worse than Children in Families with Higher Incomes, More Education

Across the country and within every state, there are substantial shortfalls in the health of children based on their family’s income and education, says a new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Commission to Build a Healthier America. The report is the first to rank states on infant mortality and children’s health status based on key social factors, and it shows that as parent’s income and levels of education rise, children’s health improves.

The report, America’s Health Starts With Healthy Children: How Do States Compare?, highlights the important role that income and education play in the health of America’s children.  It shows the unrealized health potential possible if all children had the same opportunities for health as those in the best-off families. In almost every state and the District of Columbia, children in the poorest and least-educated households suffer the worst health outcomes. But even middle class children and children in the best-off families are not as healthy as they could be.

http://www.commissiononhealth.org/NewsRelease.aspx?news=58860