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).