The NSCH asked parents of children
aged 5 and under about specific
concerns in the areas of speech,
language comprehension, manual
dexterity, motor skills, behavior,
getting along with others, the ability
to do things for themselves, and
pre-school and school skills. Overall,
the parents of almost 37 percent of
children reported concerns in at least
one of these areas. However, little
variation by location is evident:
36.4 percent of children in urban
areas have parents who reported
concerns, compared to 38.2 percent
of children in large rural areas, and
37.2 percent of children in small
rural areas.
Overall, the parents of boys are more likely to report
concerns regarding learning, development, or behavior than the parents
of girls, but there is little variation by location. Among boys,
children in urban areas are least likely to have parents who report
concerns (39.9 percent), and children in small rural areas are most
likely to cause potential concerns (41.2 percent); among girls,
concerns were also least often reported in urban areas (32.7 percent)
but most often reported in large rural areas (35.7 percent).
With regard to family income, parent-reported concerns
occur less often as income rises, again with no clear pattern by
location. Among children with family incomes below the Federal poverty
level (FPL), parent concerns are least often reported in large rural
areas (42.5 percent) and most often reported in small rural areas
(44.4 percent); conversely, among children with family incomes of
400 percent of FPL and above, concerns are least often reported
in small rural areas (27.8 percent) and most often reported in large
rural areas (35.0 percent).
|