Another one of those articles claiming a failing or inferior health care system in the US versus other rich countries! This kind of demagoguery has been repeated many times over several decades!
Making those repeated, but dubious claims is good business for doctors and public health officials etc.!
If other countries had e.g. as many guns owned by private citizens and as many young drivers and as many immigrants like the US, the statistics would be much more similar across these countries.
Then there is the issue of improved diagnostics, overdiagnosis, and intensified focus on health issues of children over time and so on ...
As Mark Twain once so famously said: “Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: 'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics’”.
"Key takeaways
- U.S. children and teens were nearly twice as likely to die as their peers in 18 other high-income countries between 2007 and 2022, researchers found.
- Among 3- to 17-year-olds, the prevalence of chronic conditions increased from 39.9% to 45.7% in pediatric health systems.
- Childhood obesity increased from 17.0% to 20.9%.
... The study found that U.S. children and teens were nearly twice as likely to die as their peers in 18 other high-income countries between 2007 and 2022. Leading causes of death included firearm injuries, motor vehicle crashes and infant deaths due to prematurity and sudden unexpected infant death. ..."
From the key points and abstract:
"Key Points
Question How has US children’s health—ie, mortality, chronic conditions, obesity, functional status, and symptoms—changed from 2007 to 2023?
Findings Temporal trends from 2007 to 2023 have significantly worsened for child mortality; chronic physical, developmental, and mental health conditions; obesity; sleep health; early puberty; limitations in activity; and physical and emotional symptoms.
Meaning US children’s health has deteriorated across a broad spectrum of indicators, highlighting the need to identify the root causes of this fundamental decline in the nation’s health.
Abstract
Importance
Recent scientific and policy statements suggest that child health may be worsening in the US.
Objective
To determine how US children’s health has been changing from 2007 to 2023 using multiple data collection methods and a comprehensive set of health indicators.
Design, Setting, and Participants
Repeated, cross-sectional analyses using mortality statistics from the US and 18 comparator high-income nations from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD18), 5 nationally representative surveys, and electronic health records from 10 pediatric health systems (PEDSnet).
The populations included individuals younger than 20 years old. Unweighted denominator sample size ranges were 1623 to 95 677 across the surveys, 1 026 926 to 2 114 638 for PEDSnet, 81.9 million to 83.2 million in the US, and 118.4 million to 121.1 million in the OECD18 for mortality statistics.
Exposure Calendar time.
Main Outcomes and Measures
Rate ratios (RRs) and annual incidence for mortality and prevalence for chronic physical, developmental, and mental health conditions, functional status, and symptoms.
Results
From 2007 to 2022,
infants (<1 year old) were 1.78 (95% CI, 1.78-1.79) and
1- to 19-year-old individuals were 1.80 (95% CI, 1.80-1.80)
times more likely to die in the US than in the OECD18.
The 2 causes of death with the largest net difference between the US and OECD18 were prematurity (RR, 2.22 [95% CI, 2.20-2.24]) and sudden unexpected infant death (RR, 2.39 [95% CI, 2.35-2.43]) for infants 12 months or younger, and firearm-related incidents (RR, 15.34 [95% CI, 14.89-15.80]) and motor vehicle crashes (RR, 2.45 [95% CI, 2.42-2.48]) for 1- to 19-year-old individuals. From 2011 to 2023, the prevalence of 3- to 17-year-old individuals with a chronic condition rose from 39.9% to 45.7% (RR, 1.15 [95% CI, 1.14-1.15]) within PEDSnet, and from 25.8% to 31.0% (RR, 1.20 [95% CI, 1.20-1.20]) within the general population. Rates of obesity, early onset of menstruation, trouble sleeping, limitations in activity, physical symptoms, depressive symptoms, and loneliness all increased during the study period.
Conclusions and Relevance
The health of US children has worsened across a wide range of health indicator domains over the past 17 years. The broad scope of this deterioration highlights the need to identify and address the root causes of this fundamental decline in the nation’s health."
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