October marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month, an issue affecting children and families nationwide.

Although domestic violence often occurs between adults, it concerns children because in 30% to 60% of families that experience domestic violence, children also are abused. In addition, children who witness domestic violence — even if they are not targets of the violence — tend to exhibit the same emotional, behavioral, and academic problems as abused children.

In California, rates of domestic violence calls for assistance decreased by nearly one third from 1998 to 2008. In one county – Merced – severity has gone up even as rates were stable.

View a customizable map of domestic violence rates by county >>

On kidsdata.org, we also offer an important related measure of violence – dating violence among adolescents. These data come to us from the California Healthy Kids Survey, which is administered in schools statewide by WestEd for the California Department of Education. According to the ’06-’08 survey, 6.6% of 11^th-grade girls and 7.5% of boys reported they had experienced dating violence, defined as being hit, slapped, punched, or otherwise hurt by a boyfriend/girlfriend in the past year.

Across all grades in California, boys are more likely than girls to report dating violence, except in non-traditional school settings. And the percentage of 11^th-grade boys reporting dating violence has increased in recent years.  Students who report high levels of connectedness to school are less likely to report dating violence.

Posted by kidsdata.org

Tags: Health Observances

Several important children’s health observances occur in May. Here’s a partial list, with related data from kidsdata.org noted alongside:

National Foster Care Awareness Month

• The rate of CA first entries into foster care have declined steadily over a 10-year period.

National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month

• The teen birth rate dropped significantly from 1995 to 2007, the latest year for which data are available. Hispanics/Latinas had the highest teen birth rate in CA for 2007, 35% higher than the next highest racial/ethnic group, African-Americans.

National Physical Fitness and Sports Month

• The percent of California’s 7^th-grade students meeting all fitness standards increased from 23% in 1999 to 33% in 2008.

National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month

• Between 2000-2008, the CA asthma hospitalization rate for infants 0-4 years old decreased by 38 percent.

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

• Over a 5-year period from 2004 to 2009, Pacific Islander students have steadily improved their Algebra I CST proficiency scores.
• Among racial/ethnic groups for which data are available, Asian Americans in 9^th grade fare the best on the measure of students with healthy weight. See data for all racial/ethnic groups, including Pacific Islanders.

Some Weekly Observances in May:

Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week – 5/2 – 5/8

Food Allergy Awareness Week – 5/9 – 5/15

Alcohol and Other Drug-Related Birth Defects Awareness Week – 5/9 – 5/15

Posted by kidsdata.org

Tags: Health Observances

Following is a rundown of some important children’s health observances that take place this month, along with links to related data from kidsdata.org:

National Autism Awareness Month

• 8% of public school students enrolled in special education in California are diagnosed with autism.
• The number of special education students that were diagnosed with autism in California more than tripled from 2001 to 2009.

See our foundation’s May 2008 issue brief on autism diagnoses for more on this topic.

Alcohol Awareness Month

• According to data from the 2006-’08 California Healthy Kids Survey, more than 40% of 7^th grade girls in California said they have ridden in a car driven by someone who had been drinking
• In this same survey, 29% of 11^th-grade California boys, and 27% of 11^th-grade girls, said they drink alcohol either “enough to feel it a lot” or “until I get really drunk.”

See all measures of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use on kidsdata.org.

National Child Abuse Prevention Month/Month of the Young Child

• Substantiated cases of child abuse in California declined from 1998 to 2008.
• Neglect is the most common type of child abuse, representing nearly 50% of substantiated cases of child abuse in California.

See all child abuse data on kidsdata.org.

National Minority Health Awareness Month

Health-related data on kidsdata.org are available for a number of racial/ethnic groups in California, including:

• African American
• Asian/Asian American
• Filipino
• Latino/Hispanic
• Native American/American Indian
• Pacific Islander

Posted by Andy Krackov

Tags: Health Observances

Any guesses as to how many kids have cavities in CA? It may be hard to say with certainty, but some experts in the state think as many as one-half of kindergartners have cavities – and this issue, plus numerous other dental-related problems, causes a significant number of kids to miss school. These problems are highlighted in Viji Sundaram’s article, Kids’ Dental Decay Takes a Bite out of School Attendance, from New America Media. The article is the result of a partnership with our foundation.

Since it’s National Children’s Dental Health Month, we thought we would note some related data from kidsdata.org. Unfortunately, California lacks a broad array of locally available, statewide measures of kids’ dental health, but what we have from the California Health Interview Survey still helps illuminate how California is faring. For example:

• About one in five kids in CA lack dental insurance, according to 2007 data, and county-level percentages vary greatly across the state.
• Here in California, it’s not unusual for kids to have never seen a dentist. These same 2007 data show that 13% of California’s kids – 1 in 8 – have never been to the dentist.

Fortunately, there are numerous statewide organizations focusing attention and resources onto dental care for California’s kids, including the Dental Health Foundation and the California Dental Association. And on the local level, there are some excellent models – such as San Mateo County’s participation in the national Give Kids a Smile Day, which offers free dental care for the kinds of kids noted in the data above – those who lack insurance or otherwise have limited access to a dentist.

Posted by Andy Krackov

Tags: Health Observances