A Closer Look At The Diminishing Health Of America’s Children

                America’s children are plagued by chronic diseases.  The following statistics show how the health of children has diminished in the less than 30 years.

Autism:

• In 1970 on in 10,000 children showed signs of autism.  According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, today one in 166 children are diagnosed with autism.
• In 1991, 5,000 autistic children were in public schools.  A report in the Digest for Education Statistics showed that number reached 94,000 by 2001.

Asthma:

• A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that 2 million children under the age of 14 suffered with asthma in 1979.  According to a recent report by the National Center for Health Statistics, 9 million children under the age of 18 are now affected by asthma.

Learning Disabled:

• 796,000 children were classified as learning disabled in the mid 1970s.  According to the U.S. Department of Education, 3 million leaning disabled children currently attend public schools.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

• The national Center for Health Statistics reported that 1.6 million elementary school children had ADHD in 1997.  Today, 4 million three to 17-year-olds are labeled with ADHD.

Diabetes:

• From 1945-1969, only One in 7,100 six to 18-year-olds were diabetic.  Today, one in 400-500 children and adolescents are diabetic and 206,000 Americans under the age of 20 have type 1 diabetes.

Arthritis:

• According to the arthritis Foundation, one in three Americans have arthritis.  More than 300,000 of these are children.