THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 8, 1996 TAG: 9610080318
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY SCOTT MOONEYHAM, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: 78 lines
A coalition of health care and child advocacy groups says the health of North Carolina children has never been better.
Still, there are troubling trends on the second annual N.C. Child Health Report Card issued by the coalition on Monday.
``There are, to be sure, some problems with some of the indicators,'' said Dr. Estes Harvey Jr., chairman of the North Carolina Institute for Medicine. ``In some instances, these numbers tell only part of the story.''
The broadest indicator of children's health - the number of deaths among North Carolinians 18 years old and younger - shows the state has never been better. The 89 deaths per 100,000 children reported in 1995 was the lowest total ever.
In 1994, the death rate among the state's children was 97.9 per 100,000.
The report card also showed that infant mortality decreased in 1995, from 10.0 percent to 9.2 percent, and that 98 percent of children entering school have been immunized against childhood diseases, the fourth-highest total among U.S. states.
However, the latest figures available for suicides and motor vehicle deaths show significant increases from the previous year. Tobacco and marijuana use among the young also are on the rise, as are the reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases, the report said.
Thomas Vitaglione, section chief with the state Division of Maternal and Child Health, said the report shows that policy makers can improve children's health when they are committed.
``We focused on infant mortality in '88. That has improved,'' Vitaglione said. ``The good news is, when we get focused, we really can change anything we want. We have not focused on enough things to help children.''
Vitaglione said the number of suicides and motor vehicle deaths among children were especially troubling. In 1994, the latest year that figures were available, 53 North Carolinians 18 years old and younger committed suicide, compared to 35 in 1993. Also in 1994, 191 children died in auto accidents, compared to 181 the previous year.
``One in four 16-year-olds have been in an auto crash,'' Vitaglione said. ``It's the leading cause of death among 16- and 17-year-olds.''
Vitaglione and other health experts said motor vehicle deaths and the rise in smoking and sexually transmitted diseases show an increase in risky behavior by young people.
Brenda Motsinger, chairwoman of the Wellness Council of North Carolina, said some of those risks can be reduced by adults.
``We absolutely must stop selling them cigarettes and encouraging them to smoke,'' she said.
Other behaviors that can cause problems later in life, such as poor diet and lack of exercise, needed to be changed early through counseling with parents, who can then encourage their children to lead healthy lives, Motsinger said.
Vitaglione said too often young parents leave the hospital with a newborn and have little outside support to raise that child.
``We no longer have that extended family that we once had,'' he said. Studies have shown, Vitaglione said, that parents with few contacts with an extended family tend to take poorer care of their children.
Vitaglione said finding ways to provide more support for families would address many issues raised in the child health report card.
Among the other indicators included in the report card are:
31.3 percent of students in grades 9-12 had smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days, according to a 1995 survey. In 1994, 29.3 percent of students said they had smoked.
21.7 percent of students in grades 9-12 had smoked marijuana during the past 30 days, the same 1995 survey indicated. The previous year, only 14.8 percent of students said they had smoked marijuana during the last 30 days.
61.3 percent of students in grades 9-12 indicated they had exercise 20 minutes a day at least three days a week in 1995, compared to 59.1 percent in 1994.
6.9 percent of girls age 15-17 became pregnant in 1994, compared to 6.8 percent in 1993.
17,772 confirmed reports of child abuse in 1995, compared to 18,397 in 1994. The number of deaths due to abuse and neglect increased from 28 in 1994 to 40 in 1995.
KEYWORDS: STUDY CHILD HEALTH REPORT CARD STATISTICS by CNB