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The Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) is pleased to present Child Health USA 2007, the 18th annual report on the health status and service needs of America’s children. The Bureau’s vision is that of a Nation in which the right to grow to one’s full potential is universally assured through attention to the comprehensive physical, psychological, and social needs of the maternal and child population. To assess the Bureau’s progress toward achieving this vision, MCHB has compiled this secondary data for more than 50 health status and health care indicators. It provides both graphical and textual summaries of relevant data, and addresses long-term trends where applicable and feasible.
All of the data discussed within these pages are from the same sources as the information in the corresponding graphs (unless otherwise noted). Data are presented for the target populations of Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant funding: infants, children, adolescents, children with special health care needs, and women of childbearing age. Child Health USA 2007 addresses health status and health services utilization and offers insight into the Nation’s progress toward the goals set out in the MCHB’s strategic plan—to assure quality of care, eliminate barriers and health disparities, and improve the health infrastructure and systems of care.
Child Health USA is published to provide the most current data available for public health professionals and other individuals in the private and public sectors. Its succinct format is intended to facilitate the use of the information as a snapshot of measures of children’s health in the United States.
Population Characteristics presents statistics on factors that influence the well-being of children, including poverty, education, and child care. Health Status contains vital statistics and health behavior information for the maternal and child health population. Health Services Financing and Utilization includes data regarding health care financing and utilization of selected health services. State Data and City Data contain information on selected indicators at those levels.
