Premature Birth Rate Is Dropping
Premature Birth Rate Is Dropping
Study Also Shows a Decline in the Birth Rate for Teenagers
July 9, 2010 -- The rate of premature births has dropped slightly for the second year in a row, according to a new federal report.
What is more, the rate of births to teens also has declined, the study shows.
The report, "America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2010," finds that in the period 2007-2008:
"The decline in preterm births is encouraging," Alan E. Guttmacher, MD, acting director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development, says in a news release. "Preterm infants are at higher risk for death in the first year of life, for serious illness in infancy, and in later life, for obesity and its associated complications."
Edward Sondik, PhD, director of the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, says in the same news release that the decline in births to teens is significant because it occurred after two years of increases.
The report also shows improvements in children's education, including higher reading and math scores for eighth graders. In the period from 2007 to 2009:
Premature Birth Rate Is Dropping
Study Also Shows a Decline in the Birth Rate for Teenagers
July 9, 2010 -- The rate of premature births has dropped slightly for the second year in a row, according to a new federal report.
What is more, the rate of births to teens also has declined, the study shows.
The report, "America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2010," finds that in the period 2007-2008:
- The percentage of infants born preterm (before 37 weeks) dropped from 12.7% to 12.3%.
- Teen girls are having fewer babies. Births to adolescents dropped from 22.2 per 1,000 girls to 21.7.
- The rate of children 17 years and under covered by health insurance at some time during the year rose from 89% to 90%.
- The percentage of children 17 and under who are living with at least one parent employed full-time dropped from 77% to 75%.
- The percentage of children 17 and under living in "food insecure" homes rose from 17% to 22%, the highest prevalence since monitoring began. The report defines "food security" as having access at all times to enough food for all family members to lead active, healthy lives.
"The decline in preterm births is encouraging," Alan E. Guttmacher, MD, acting director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development, says in a news release. "Preterm infants are at higher risk for death in the first year of life, for serious illness in infancy, and in later life, for obesity and its associated complications."
Edward Sondik, PhD, director of the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, says in the same news release that the decline in births to teens is significant because it occurred after two years of increases.
Reading and Math Improvements
The report also shows improvements in children's education, including higher reading and math scores for eighth graders. In the period from 2007 to 2009:
- Eighth graders' average mathematics scores increased from 281 to 283 on one scale of measurement, while fourth graders' scores were flat after rising for a number of years.
- Eighth graders' average reading scores also increased, from 263 to 264, while scores of fourth graders did not change.
- From 2008 to 2009, the percentage of teens 16-19 who were neither enrolled in school nor working increased from 8% to 9%. Black and Hispanic young people were more likely to be in that situation than white teens.
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