In 2021, the 15 countries with the highest mortality rates among children aged under five were all located in Africa. At that time, around 72 children in Africa per 1,000
, compared to a rate of only 13 in the Americas. Children around the world face different health problems depending on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the region and country they are in, the income of their family, and their access to health care. In the United States, the national infant mortality rate stood at 5.4 deaths per 1,000 live births as of 2022, with the state of Mississippi reporting the
.
Health risks
Access to modern health care allows U.S. children health benefits not always available to children in less developed regions. For example, around 92 percent of children in the United States are
vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) by the age of 24 months. On the other hand, children in the U.S. are more susceptible to certain health problems than those in other countries. The rising prevalence of childhood obesity and its many adverse effects has continued to be a source of public health concern. As of 2021-2022, the
states with the highest rates of child obesity are Mississippi, Kentucky, and New Mexico. At that time, over a quarter of children aged 6 to 17 years in Mississippi were obese. Poor diet, physical inactivity, and insufficient sleep are some factors that affect weight gain and can put children at risk of other health conditions.
Health insurance among children in the United States
Having health insurance is vital for children to have access to the health care that they require, however, a large number of
children in the U.S. remain without health insurance. Around 800,000 children aged one to five years were uninsured in 2022, while 2.9 million of those aged 6 to 18 years had no insurance.
Rates of health insurance among children in the United States vary by race and ethnicity with around 12 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native children and eight percent of Hispanic children living without health insurance in 2022. In comparison, just four percent of white children did not have health insurance at that time. In 2023, around 36 percent of U.S.
children had health insurance through Medicaid. Increasing access to health care and raising awareness of health risks such as childhood obesity among parents are just a couple ways in which the health of children in the United States can be improved.
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