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Too Few Kids Get Preventive Care
Jan. 3, 2003 -- Nearly one in four U.S. kids don't see a doctor when they should. And nearly half fail to see a dentist for regular care.
"A substantial portion of all U.S. children do not receive preventive care according to professionally recommended standards," according to Stella M. Yu, ScD, MPH, and colleagues.
Yu is a researcher at the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the federal Health Resources and Services Administration. Her team analyzed data from a 1999 survey of some 36,000 children under age 18. Their findings appear in the December 2002 issue of the journal Pediatrics.
Overall, 23% of the kids didn't see a doctor as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Almost half -- 47% -- didn't see a dentist as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.
The children least likely to get well-child medical care were:
- Under age 10
- Uninsured
- Non-Hispanic white
- Those with a less-than-college-educated parent
- In poor health
The children least likely to get well-child dental care were:
- Black
- Uninsured
- From families with low incomes
- Those with a less-than-college-educated parent
- Those who postponed dental care in the last year
The researchers found that children with public health insurance -- such as a state children's health insurance program -- were more likely to get well- child care. However, they also found that such programs need much improvement. This is particularly true of children in poor general health.
SOURCE: Pediatrics, December 2002.
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