New data: Homelessness, health coverage, breastfeeding
Kids Count, a national and state-by-state effort to track the status of children in the U.S. funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, has released new reports covering these topics:
- Child and Youth Homelessness in the Nation’s Schools
- Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) for Counties and States
- Centers for Disease Control Survey on Breastfeeding Among U.S. Children Born 1999–2007
The report on Child and Youth Homelessness in the Nation’s Schools, titled “A Critical Moment,” was published by the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth and First Focus. It includes a summary of recent federal data along with findings from a voluntary national survey of school districts and state departments of education.
Hawaii saw a 54 percent increase in homeless students enrolled for school year 2006-07 and 2008-09. The greatest percentage increase was recorded in Texas (139 percent) while the smallest was in Massachusetts (3 percent). Eight states experienced a decrease in homeless student enrollment with Montana having the highest decrease (-41 percent).
The report is available at: http://www.naehcy.org/criticalmoment.htm
The Small Area Health Insurance Estimates for Counties and States were compiled by the Census Bureau and published in July 2010. The data are broken down by age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, and income categories at the state level and by age, sex, and income categories at the county level. The following are highlights on the Hawaii population below 19 years of age across counties:
The complete estimates, including interactive tables, maps and downloadable data sets for all U.S. counties, are available at http://www.census.gov/did/www/sahie/index.html.
Since July 2001, breastfeeding questions have been included in the CDC’s National Immunization Survey to assess the population’s breastfeeding practices. This nationwide survey provides current national, state, and selected urban-area estimates of vaccination coverage rates and various breastfeeding-related indicators for U.S. children ages 19 to 35 months.
The National Women’s Health Information Center notes on its website that breastfeeding
- provides easily digestible breast milk
- supplies antibodies that reduce the infant’s risk of developing asthma, obesity, diabetes, and various childhood infections
- promotes closeness between mother and infant, and
- saves families on the cost of infant formula and feeding supplies.
While ten U.S. states achieved all five Healthy People 2010 breastfeeding objectives for children born in 2007, Hawaii achieved four, falling short in the percentage of mothers exclusively breastfeeding their infant through 6 months of age. The Healthy People objective was 17 percent; Hawaii's score was 16 percent.
The complete report with links to maps and tables is at http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/data/NIS_data/index.htm.
