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HEALTH4 Activity limitation: Percentage of children ages 5–17 with activity limitation resulting from one or more chronic health conditionsa by gender, poverty status, and race and Hispanic origin, selected years 1997–2006

excel icon HEALTH4 Excel Table

Characteristic 1997 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Ages 5–17
Total 7.8 7.0 7.0 8.0 8.5 8.1 8.4 8.0 8.6
Special education onlyb 5.4 5.3 5.0 6.2 6.3 6.3 6.3 6.1 6.7
Other limitationsc 2.4 1.7 2.0 1.8 2.1 1.8 2.1 1.8 1.9
Gender
Male 10.0 8.8 8.8 10.4 10.7 10.1 10.6 10.2 11.0
Special education onlyb 7.2 6.8 6.5 8.2 8.2 8.1 8.0 8.1 8.8
Other limitationsc 2.8 2.0 2.4 2.2 2.5 2.0 2.5 2.1 2.2
Female 5.5 5.2 5.1 5.5 6.2 6.0 6.1 5.7 6.1
Special education onlyb 3.5 3.8 3.6 4.0 4.4 4.4 4.5 4.1 4.4
Other limitationsc 2.0 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.8 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6
Poverty statusd
Below 100% poverty 10.6 9.8 9.9 10.8 11.6 10.3 11.7 10.8 11.4
Special education onlyb 7.2 7.0 7.2 8.3 8.1 7.7 8.7 7.7 8.9
Other limitationsc 3.4 2.8 2.7 2.5 3.5 2.6 3.0 3.0 2.5
100–199% poverty 9.3 8.4 8.0 8.9 10.5 10.0 9.7 9.1 9.8
Special education onlyb 7.0 6.5 5.6 6.7 7.9 7.3 7.1 7.3 7.7
Other limitationsc 2.3 1.9 2.4 2.2 2.6 2.7 2.6 1.8 2.1
200% poverty and above 6.3 5.8 5.8 6.9 6.9 6.8 7.0 6.8 7.2
Special education onlyb 4.2 4.4 4.3 5.4 5.3 5.5 5.4 5.3 5.6
Other limitationsc 2.2 1.3 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.3 1.6 1.5 1.6
Race or Hispanic origine
White, non-Hispanic 8.3 7.5 7.5 8.5 8.8 8.6 8.8 8.3 9.5
Special education onlyb 5.8 5.7 5.4 6.5 6.6 6.8 6.7 6.2 7.7
Other limitationsc 2.5 1.8 2.1 2.0 2.2 1.8 2.1 2.1 1.8
Black, non-Hispanic 8.2 7.0 7.5 9.0 10.2 8.3 10.3 8.7 8.3
Special education onlyb 5.3 4.9 5.6 7.0 7.8 6.5 7.7 6.9 5.9
Other limitationsc 2.9 2.1 1.9 1.9 2.5 1.8 2.6 1.8 2.4
Hispanic 5.9 5.7 5.3 5.6 6.7 6.6 6.0 7.0 6.6
Special education onlyb 4.0 4.5 3.7 4.3 5.0 4.9 4.4 5.6 4.9
Other limitationsc 1.9 1.2 1.6 1.2 1.7 1.8 1.7 1.4 1.7
a Chronic health conditions are conditions that once acquired are not cured or have a duration of three months or more.
b Special education, as mandated by federal legislation known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), is designed to meet the individual needs of the child, and may take place in a regular classroom setting, a separate classroom, a special school, a private school, at home, or at a hospital. To qualify for special education services, a child must have a condition covered by the IDEA which adversely affects educational performance.
c Other limitations include limitations in children’s ability to walk, care for themselves, or perform any other activities.
d Starting with America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well–Being, 2005, a new methodology for imputing family income was used for data years 1997 and beyond. Missing family income data were imputed for 22–31 percent of children ages 5–17 in 1997–2006. Therefore, estimates by poverty for 1997–2001 may differ from those in previous editions.
e The revised 1997 OMB standards for race were used for the 1997–2006 race-specific estimates. A person’s race is described by one or more of five racial groups: White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. Data on race and Hispanic origin are collected separately but are combined for reporting. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race. Included in the total but not shown separately are American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander race, and Two or more races due to the small sample size for each of these groups.
NOTE: The prevalence of activity limitation among children ages 5–17 is based on household responses in the National Health Interview Survey family core questionnaire. The child was considered to have an activity limitation if the parent gave a positive response to any of the following questions about the child: (1) “Does (child’s name) receive Special Education Services?” (2) “Because of a physical, mental, or emotional problem, does (child’s name) need the help of other persons with personal care needs, such as eating, bathing, dressing, or getting around inside the home?“ (3) “Because of a health problem does (child’s name) have difficulty walking without using any special equipment?” (4) “Is (child’s name) limited in any way because of difficulty remembering or because of periods of confusion?” (5) “Is (child’s name) limited in any activities because of physical, mental, or emotional problems?”
SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey.