Utah fares well in report on U.S. children

Federal agencies across the country have been keeping an eye on America's kids. Everything from whether parents read to them daily to the quality of their drinking water is recorded and reported.

The annual Report on America's Children was released Thursday, showing some improvements, some declines and some plateaus. Utah fares well compared to the nation in many ways, though the state has room for improvement, according to Karen Crompton, director of Voices for Utah Children.

The report was commissioned by executive order in 1997, making this year the 10th anniversary edition. It serves to help Americans recognize the status of children in seven areas: family and social environment, economic circumstances, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education, and health.

"This report provides some critical information that the public and policy-makers need to improve the health of America's children," said Edward Sondik, director of the National Center for Health Statistics,

in a teleconference call Thursday.

No drastic changes took place nationally from last year to this. Births to unmarried women rose to 37 percent, the highest percentage since the report began in 1997. Languages other than English spoken at home, and housing problems rose as well. Secure employment also rose while teen births dropped.

The report states that 60 percent of American parents read to their children daily. It also shows improvement in math scores for eighth graders.

While the exact same measurements are not taken in recent Utah reports, the areas that do compare show Utah to be doing well.

"For most children, Utah is a pretty great place to be raised," said Crompton. "We always rank toward the top in almost any survey."

Low birth weights, described as infants born at less than 5 lbs. 8 oz., rose nationally, marking "an area in need of improvement and of particular concern," according to Duane Alexander, Director of the National Institute of Child Health. The current national rate is 8.2 percent. It has been increasing slowly but steadily since 1984 when it was 6.7 percent. A small percentage of these children will go on to develop "mental retardation, cerebral palsy, visual and hearing difficulties," according to Alexander.

In this same category, 6.6 percent of Utah births are considered low in weight, according to the annual Kids Count Report. Utah statistics also show improvement compared with national data in the areas of child abuse, child poverty and infant mortality, according to the report.

However, ranking toward the top doesn't mean the government and the general public should kick back and bask in the success.