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Research and Development Initiatives
Child Health Assessment and
Monitoring Program (CHAMP)
To assist state and local health officials in obtaining uniform data on
the health conditions and behavioral risks of children and adolescents, the
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) has launched the Child
Health Assessment and Monitoring Program (CHAMP). Although national estimates
of health conditions and risk behaviors among U.S. children and adolescents had been
periodically obtained through national surveys, these data are not typically available
on a state-specific basis. This deficiency is viewed as critical for state
health agencies that have the primary role of targeting resources to reduce
behavioral risks and their consequent illnesses. National data may not be
appropriate for any given state; however, state and local agency participation is
critical to achieve national childhood health goals.
Many states have previously used the BRFSS as a tool for
collecting health information on children. For example, in 1998, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, and Rhode Island asked questions regarding child health. Since then, many other states added
their own child health questions, including questions about asthma, immunization,
safety belt use, bike helmet use, lead poisoning, chicken pox, dental sealants,
and health insurance coverage. These efforts tended to be state-specific.
In November
2004, the BRFSS was used for the first time to collect information across all
states about a randomly selected child within the household. This information
was used successfully to monitor child vaccination rates across the states
during the 2004-2005 influenza season. As a part of the 2005 BRFSS, the Random Child
Selection, Childhood Asthma Prevalence, and Child Immunization modules became state-approved
optional modules on the BRFSS. More extensive BRFSS follow-up surveys are also
being conducted to collect information about children in the household. For
example, the 2005 BRFSS Asthma Follow-up Survey collects information on
medications, family history, and environmental factors for children who have
been diagnosed with asthma at some point in their lives.
CHAMP facilitates the use of standardized questions and data collection
methodologies for those aged 17 and younger in the general
public. The information is collected via an adult proxy, who responds to
questions about the child or adolescent. Use of a random child selection
process and population-based weighting allows researchers to develop valid and
reliable health and risk estimates for this population.
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