Children’s health statistics at a glance
Children’s health is not one dataset, but a cluster of connected signals: general health status, access to care, obesity, insurance coverage, diagnoses, screening, and day-to-day well-being.
The figures below show both progress and pressure points. Some measures are reassuring, like near-universal usual sources of care for younger children. Others show where families, schools, and clinicians are still carrying a heavy load, especially around ADHD, hearing loss, mental health, and allergy burden (CDC FastStats Child Health; CDC ADHD Data and Statistics; CDC Hearing Loss in Children Data and Statistics; CDC Children’s Mental Health Data and Statistics; CDC FastStats Allergies).
Fast facts
- 1.9% of children ages 0-4 years were in fair or poor health in 2024 (CDC FastStats Child Health).
- 1.9% of children ages 5-11 years were in fair or poor health in 2024 (CDC FastStats Child Health).
- 5.1% of U.S. children younger than age 18 lacked health insurance in 2024 (CDC FastStats Child Health).
- 97.7% of children ages 0-4 years had a usual source of health care in 2024 (CDC FastStats Child Health).
- 96.3% of children ages 5-11 years had a usual source of health care in 2024 (CDC FastStats Child Health).
- 29.5% of children younger than age 18 had any allergy in 2024 (CDC FastStats Allergies).
Table of contents
- General child health status
- Access, insurance, and routine care
- Obesity and missed school days
- ADHD statistics in children
- Hearing loss in children
- Children’s mental health statistics
- Allergy statistics in children
- What the numbers suggest
General child health status
The most basic child-health measures are also among the most useful because they are easy to compare across age groups.
Children ages 0-4 and 5-11 were both at 1.9% fair-or-poor health in 2024 (CDC FastStats Child Health). That tells you that, on this measure, the youngest school-age and preschool children were reporting the same low level of poor health.
Key takeaways
- The share of children in fair or poor health was low in both younger age groups.
- Health status alone does not capture functional problems, diagnosis burden, or care access.
- The same children can look healthy on one indicator and still face substantial needs on others.
The broader health picture is more complicated once you add school attendance, chronic conditions, and insurance coverage. For example, 5.9% of children ages 5-11 missed 11 or more school days in the past 12 months because of illness, injury, or disability (CDC FastStats Child Health). That is a narrow percentage, but it still represents a meaningful number of children missing extended stretches of learning time.
Access, insurance, and routine care
A strong child-health system depends on access as much as outcomes.
The dataset shows a useful contrast between coverage gaps and care continuity:
- 5.1% of U.S. children younger than age 18 lacked health insurance in 2024 (CDC FastStats Child Health).
- 97.7% of children ages 0-4 years had a usual source of health care in 2024 (CDC FastStats Child Health).
- 96.3% of children ages 5-11 years had a usual source of health care in 2024 (CDC FastStats Child Health).
That combination matters. Insurance is not the same thing as a regular source of care, and a regular source of care is not the same thing as easy access to every specialist a child may need. Still, the numbers suggest that routine primary care contact is widespread even while a small but important share of children remain uninsured.
Why it matters
- A usual source of care can support preventive visits, developmental checks, and referrals.
- Insurance gaps can make that relationship harder to sustain.
- The difference between a child being “covered” and “well served” is often where real-world health outcomes are decided.
Obesity and missed school days
Some of the most actionable child-health statistics are the ones that point to overlapping burdens instead of isolated conditions.
The obesity estimates in this dataset show that excess weight affects a sizable minority of children:
- 14.9% of children ages 2-5 years had obesity from August 2021-August 2023 (CDC FastStats Child Health).
- 22.1% of children ages 6-11 years had obesity from August 2021-August 2023 (CDC FastStats Child Health).
That jump from early childhood into the elementary years is notable. It does not by itself explain why the rate is higher in the older group, but it does show that obesity is already common before adolescence.
Compact comparison
| Age group | Measure | Statistic | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-5 years | Obesity | 14.9% | CDC FastStats Child Health |
| 6-11 years | Obesity | 22.1% | CDC FastStats Child Health |
| 5-11 years | Missed 11+ school days due to illness, injury, or disability | 5.9% | CDC FastStats Child Health |
| 0-4 years | Fair or poor health | 1.9% | CDC FastStats Child Health |
| 5-11 years | Fair or poor health | 1.9% | CDC FastStats Child Health |
The table makes one point clearly: child health challenges do not wait for adolescence. By the time children reach elementary school, both obesity and disrupted school attendance are already visible in the numbers.
ADHD statistics in children
ADHD is one of the clearest examples in the dataset of a condition that is both common and unevenly experienced.
In 2022, 7 million U.S. children ages 3-17 years, or 11.4%, had ever been diagnosed with ADHD (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics). The dataset also says this was 1 million higher than in 2016 (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics), which gives the statistic an important trend context: more children are being identified than before.
Big number
About 6 in 10 children with ADHD had moderate or severe ADHD (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics).
That figure matters because it suggests ADHD is not just widespread; it is often significant in severity.
Diagnosis patterns
The diagnosis data show several sharp differences:
- Boys were diagnosed at 15%, versus 8% for girls in 2022 (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics).
- Black children and White children were both diagnosed at 12%, versus 4% for Asian children in 2022 (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics).
- American Indian/Alaska Native children had a 10% ADHD diagnosis rate in 2022 (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics).
- About 6% of Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander children were diagnosed with ADHD in 2022 (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics).
- Non-Hispanic children had a 12% ADHD diagnosis rate versus 10% for Hispanic children in 2022 (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics).
Treatment and state variation
The dataset also shows that diagnosis does not map neatly to treatment.
- ADHD diagnosis prevalence among children ages 3-17 years ranged from 6% to 16% across states in 2022 (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics).
- Any ADHD treatment among children with current ADHD ranged from 58% to 92% across states (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics).
- ADHD medication use among children with current ADHD ranged from 38% to 81% in state estimates (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics).
- ADHD behavior therapy among children with current ADHD ranged from 39% to 62% in state estimates (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics).
That spread is large enough to matter on its own. It means where a child lives can be part of the treatment story, not just the diagnosis story.
Co-occurring conditions and care mix
The dataset also points to complexity once ADHD is present:
- Nearly 78% of children with ADHD had at least one other co-occurring condition in 2022 (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics).
- Almost half had a behavior or conduct problem (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics).
- About 4 in 10 had anxiety (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics).
- About 30% received neither medication treatment nor behavior treatment (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics).
- About 32% received both medication treatment and behavior treatment (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics).
- The number of children receiving behavior treatment for ADHD increased to 2.8 million from 2.5 million in 2016 (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics).
Those numbers together show a care landscape that is mixed rather than linear. Some children receive combined care, some receive one type of treatment, and a meaningful share receive neither.
Hearing loss in children
Hearing loss is a smaller-prevalence topic than ADHD, but it carries a large practical footprint because it affects communication, learning, and long-term functioning.
The screening numbers are especially strong:
- In 2022, more than 98% of U.S. newborns were screened for hearing loss (CDC Hearing Loss in Children Data and Statistics).
- In 2022, more than 6,000 U.S. infants were identified with permanent hearing loss (CDC Hearing Loss in Children Data and Statistics).
- Hearing loss prevalence among babies screened was 1.7 per 1,000 in 2022 (CDC Hearing Loss in Children Data and Statistics).
Fast facts
- In CDC NHIS data from 2015-2018, 0.6% of children ages 3-17 years had moderate to profound hearing loss (CDC Hearing Loss in Children Data and Statistics).
- In CDC NHANES III data, 15.2% of children and adolescents ages 12-19 years had hearing loss (CDC Hearing Loss in Children Data and Statistics).
- Genes were responsible for hearing loss in 50% to 60% of children with hearing loss (CDC Hearing Loss in Children Data and Statistics).
- Infections during pregnancy, other environmental causes, and complications after birth accounted for hearing loss in almost 30% of babies with hearing loss (CDC Hearing Loss in Children Data and Statistics).
The cause mix matters because it shows that hearing loss is not a single-path condition. Some cases are genetic, some are related to pregnancy or birth factors, and some are linked to infection exposure.
Family and lifetime impact
A few more figures show why early identification matters:
- About 20% of babies with genetic hearing loss had a syndrome such as Down syndrome or Usher syndrome (CDC Hearing Loss in Children Data and Statistics).
- 14% of children exposed to congenital CMV during pregnancy developed sensorineural hearing loss of some type (CDC Hearing Loss in Children Data and Statistics).
- About 3% to 5% of children exposed to congenital CMV during pregnancy developed bilateral moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss (CDC Hearing Loss in Children Data and Statistics).
- About 1 in 4 children with hearing loss was born weighing less than 2,500 grams (CDC Hearing Loss in Children Data and Statistics).
The downstream impact can be substantial:
- About 40% of young adults with childhood-identified hearing loss reported at least one limitation in daily functioning (CDC Hearing Loss in Children Data and Statistics).
- About 71% of young adults with childhood-identified hearing loss and no other related conditions were employed (CDC Hearing Loss in Children Data and Statistics).
- In 1999-2000, special education for children who were deaf or hard of hearing cost $652 million in the U.S. (CDC Hearing Loss in Children Data and Statistics).
- That cost equaled $11,006 per child in 1999-2000 (CDC Hearing Loss in Children Data and Statistics).
- The lifetime educational cost of severe permanent hearing loss was estimated at $115,600 per child in 2007 value (CDC Hearing Loss in Children Data and Statistics).
Children’s mental health statistics
The mental-health section of the dataset has one of the widest age ranges, from early childhood flourishing to adolescent care needs.
For younger children, the picture is relatively positive:
- In 2022-2023, 78% of children ages 6 months to 5 years exhibited all 4 indicators of flourishing (CDC Children’s Mental Health Data and Statistics).
- In 2022-2023, 96% of young children usually or always were affectionate and tender with parents or caregivers (CDC Children’s Mental Health Data and Statistics).
- In 2022-2023, 99% of young children usually or always smiled and laughed (CDC Children’s Mental Health Data and Statistics).
Those figures are a reminder that childhood well-being can be high even when older children and adolescents are facing more complex mental-health needs.
Diagnostic snapshot
- In 2021, 21% of children ages 3-17 had ever been diagnosed with a mental, emotional, or behavioral health condition (CDC Children’s Mental Health Data and Statistics).
- In 2022-2023, 11% of children ages 3-17 had current diagnosed anxiety, including 9% of males and 12% of females (CDC Children’s Mental Health Data and Statistics).
- In 2022-2023, 8% had current diagnosed behavior disorders, including 10% of males and 5% of females (CDC Children’s Mental Health Data and Statistics).
- In 2022-2023, 4% had current diagnosed depression, including 3% of males and 6% of females (CDC Children’s Mental Health Data and Statistics).
Adolescent care and activity
The adolescent data mix symptoms, care, and behavior patterns:
- In 2021-2023, 55% of U.S. adolescents reported discussing their mental and emotional health with a health care professional in the past 12 months (CDC Children’s Mental Health Data and Statistics).
- In 2021-2023, 16% reported taking any prescription medication for emotions, concentration, behavior, or mental health in the past 12 months (CDC Children’s Mental Health Data and Statistics).
- In 2021-2023, 20% reported receiving mental health therapy in the past 12 months (CDC Children’s Mental Health Data and Statistics).
- In 2021-2023, 20% of adolescents ages 12-17 reported unmet mental health care needs in the past 12 months (CDC Children’s Mental Health Data and Statistics).
- In 2021-2023, 61% of adolescents were physically active for at least an hour most days (CDC Children’s Mental Health Data and Statistics).
- In 2021-2023, 60% reported playing on a sports team in the past year (CDC Children’s Mental Health Data Statistics).
- In 2021-2023, 21% reported practicing yoga in the past year (CDC Children’s Mental Health Data and Statistics).
A useful way to read these numbers is that mental-health care is common enough to be visible, but unmet need remains just as visible.
Allergy statistics in children
Allergies are one of the most common health issues in the dataset, and their scale is hard to miss.
In 2024, 29.5% of children younger than age 18 had any allergy (CDC FastStats Allergies). That includes:
- 20.6% with seasonal allergy (CDC FastStats Allergies)
- 12.7% with eczema (CDC FastStats Allergies)
- 5.3% with food allergy (CDC FastStats Allergies)
What stands out
The allergy numbers are high enough that they should be treated as a mainstream child-health issue, not a niche one. Seasonal allergy alone affects roughly one in five children, and eczema is also in the double digits.
That matters in practice because these conditions can affect sleep, comfort, school participation, and family routines even when they are not medically severe.
What the numbers suggest
Taken together, these statistics show a child-health landscape with three clear patterns.
- Routine care is widespread, but not universal. Most younger children have a usual source of care, yet 5.1% of U.S. children younger than 18 were uninsured in 2024 (CDC FastStats Child Health).
- Developmental, behavioral, and sensory conditions are a major part of pediatric health. ADHD, hearing loss, and mental-health conditions each affect large enough shares of children to matter at the population level (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics; CDC Hearing Loss in Children Data and Statistics; CDC Children’s Mental Health Data and Statistics).
- Multiple conditions often overlap. ADHD frequently co-occurs with other conditions, and allergies, obesity, and missed school days can all add pressure to the same child’s daily life (CDC ADHD Data and Statistics; CDC FastStats Child Health; CDC FastStats Allergies).
The most useful way to read the dataset is not as a list of unrelated percentages, but as a map of where children’s health systems need to stay visible: screening, access, diagnosis, treatment, school functioning, and family support.