Chronic health problems soar in children

The number of U.S. children with chronic health conditions has risen dramatically in the past four decades, according to a new report.

The new research shows that childrens will become so disabled their quality of life will suffer, and their needs will tax our health care and welfare programs in the future.

"We have 80 million children in America today, and about 8%, or 6.5 million children and adolescents, have chronic conditions that interfere with regular daily activities," says James M. Perrin, MD, professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. He is the lead author of the report, a commentary that appears in the June 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The issue is devoted to the topic of pediatric chronic disease.

If children with chronic conditions not severe enough to be disabling are counted, chronic conditions affect about 18% of American teens and children in all, Perrin says.

The new numbers, Perrin says, represent a "huge increase" from previous generations. In 1960, for instance, fewer than 2% of U.S. children and teens had a chronic health condition.

Top 3 ProblemsUsing multiple data sources, Perrin and his co-authors found that:

• Obesity affects at least 18% of children and teens, increasing from about 5% affected in 1971-1974.
• Asthma now affects nearly 9% of children and teens, a doubling since the 1980s.
• About 6% of school-aged children have a reported diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In 1960, there was no entry for the condition in the established manual used to diagnose mental problems.

Source: www.medical-health-care-information.com