news-record.com

Our kids are getting fatter, and a higher percentage of them aren’t insured.

Those are two of the more disturbing findings of the 14th annual Child Health Report Card. The report was issued Wednesday by the nonprofit Action for Children North Carolina and the N.C. Institute of Medicine, an agency that provides information on the state’s health care.

“Over the past decade, the annual report cards have shown an overall improvement in the health and safety of our children, and this is encouraging,” said Barbara Bradley, president and CEO of Action for Children. “However, the 2008 Report Card shows stagnation in many areas and indicates that we have a long way to go.”

One key statistic is that the percentage of children with no health insurance increased from 11.6 percent in 2002 to 13.1 percent in 2007. That lack can lead to the absence of preventive care, which in turn can lead to health problems. Lack of insurance also makes it harder to get care when health problems arise.

“This is a major concern that warrants both state and federal attention,” said Dr. Pam Silberman, president and CEO of the Institute of Medicine. “Access to care through health insurance — a critical underpinning of children’s health status — is getting worse.”

The increase reflects the fact that North Carolina has experienced one of the largest decreases in employer-provided health insurance in the nation, the report says.

In most of its 51 criteria, grouped under 16 general headings, this year’s report compares 2007 to the baseline year of 2002. It provides statistics and trends and assigns a letter grade to each criterion.

Many criteria show low but improving numbers. Others, such as the percentage of low-income children who are overweight, are bad and getting worse.

The percentage of children ages 12 to 18 in low-income families who are overweight or obese increased from 26.3 percent in 2002 to 29.9 percent in 2007.

Coming from a low-income family is correlated with eating less-healthful foods and lacking recreational exercise opportunities. Being overweight or obese in childhood correlates with being overweight as an adult and having related health problems.

The percentage of high-school students who were physically active for at least an hour in at least five of the past seven days was essentially unchanged. But, at 44.3 percent, it remains unacceptably low, the report said.

Bradley also expressed concern about racial disparities in several categories. For example, the teen pregnancy rate among minority girls ages 15 to 17 is almost twice that of white girls in the same age group.

There also is a significant gap between white and minority infant mortality, although that gap shrank a bit during the five-year period covered by the report.

Contact Lex Alexander at 373-7088 or lex.alexander@news-record.com