More Kids with Chronic Conditions

(February 17, 2010) - The number of children with chronic health problems has more than doubled over 12 years. The rate of chronic health conditions among children in the U.S. increased from 12.8 percent in 1994 to 26.6 percent in 2006, for conditions such as obesity, asthma (Read about "Obesity" "Asthma") and behavior/learning problems, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Researchers estimated changes in prevalence, incidence and rates of remission of broad categories of conditions using 3 consecutive groups of children and examined the prevalence of having a condition during any part of the 6-year study period. The researchers used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Child Cohort (1988-2006), which consisted of 3 nationally representative cohorts of children. Children were ages 2 through 8 years at the beginning of each study period, and the groups were followed up for 6 years, from 1988 to 1994, 1994 to 2000, and 2000 to 2006.

The researchers found that prevalence of any chronic condition, including obesity, increased with subsequent groups. The prevalence at the beginning of the study for group 2 (16.6 percent) and group 3 (25.2 percent) was higher compared with group 1 (11.2 percent). The end-study prevalence of any chronic health condition was 12.8 percent for group 1 in 1994, 25.1 percent for group 2 in 2000, and 26.6 percent for group 3 in 2006.