Could A Soda Tax in California Improve Kids’ Health?

As California legislators coming back from their holiday break prepare to consider a controversial “soda tax,” a recent study examines how a statewide penny-an-ounce tax on sugary drinks might affect adults’ and kids’ health in the Golden State.

The study, published in the journal Public Library of Science One (PLOS), estimates that a penny-per-ounce tax could result in a 10-20% decline in statewide consumption of sodas, sports drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages. As frequent consumption of such drinks has been linked to child obesity, diabetes and heart disease, this decline is projected to result in a drop in new cases of diabetes and heart disease, yielding population health benefits and cost savings in California.

As Santa Cruz Sentinel reporter Jason Hoppin writes:

Researchers pegged the likeliest savings from reduced diabetes cases at $320 million to $620 million in 10 years. In some scenarios, that figure topped $1 billion when coronary heart disease was factored in…

…The impacts were particularly profound within minorities and low-income populations, which have been disproportionately affected by chronic diseases linked to dietary intake. 

The PLOS study doesn’t differentiate between adults and children in terms of health impact, but statewide, an estimated 41% of children ages 2-17 drank one or more sugar-sweetened beverages every day, according to 2011-12 data on kidsdata.org.

More than 70 percent of African American and Latino children and youth ages 12-17 in California reported drinking one or more sugar-sweetened beverages every day, compared to 56 percent of white children in the same age group.

To see California kids’ consumption of sugary drinks at the county and state levels – as well as diabetes-related hospitalizations and figures on healthy weight – check out these indicators on kidsdata.org:

Children Drinking One or More Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Per Day (County Level Data)

By Age (California Only)

By Age and Race/Ethnicity (California Only)

Students Who Are at a Healthy Weight or Underweight, by Grade Level (2011-2012)

by Gender and Grade Level

by Race/Ethnicity and Grade Level

Diabetes-related Hospitalizations, By County

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Fifty Years After The “War on Poverty”: How California Children Are Faring

As we mark the 50th anniversary of Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty this month, it’s a good time to take stock of the economic status of California children and their families.

While the national poverty rate declined from 26 percent in 1967 to 16 percent in 2012, it has been harder to move the needle on child poverty in California in recent years.

The state’s child poverty rate in 2012 – 22.5 percent – was about the same as it was in 1990, although it dipped to a low of about 16 percent in 2001, according to an analysis by the California Budget Project.

Why does this matter? The national research center ChildTrends highlights the five ways poverty harms children’s health and well being.

Several measures tracked by kidsdata.org show other ways in which California children and their families continue to struggle despite the recovering economy:

See more state and county-level data on California child poverty and family income on kidsdata.org:

Children in Poverty (Regions of 65,000 Residents or More)

Children in Poverty – Supplemental Poverty Measure (State & U.S. Only)

Children Living Above and Below the Poverty Level (Regions of 65,000 Residents or More), by Income Level

Student Eligibility to Receive Free or Reduced Price School Meals

Median Family Income (Regions of 65,000 Residents or More)

Self-Sufficiency Standard, by Household Type

Families Living Below the Self-Sufficiency Standard

CalWORKs Recipients

Adequacy of Income to Meet Basic Needs

Households with a High Housing Cost Burden (Regions of 65,000 Residents or More)

Children Living in Crowded Households, by County (65,000 Residents or More)

Related Content:

photo credit from flickr.

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Children Now Issues 2014 California Children’s Report Card: A C- on Developmental Screening, D+ on Oral Health

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Children Now’s 2014 “California Children’s Report Card” was released this week, with grades ranging from B+ to a less impressive D on how the state performs on child health, education and welfare indicators.

While the Oakland-based advocacy group praised recent changes in state education funding, Children Now gave only a C- grade for California’s performance in timely developmental and behavioral screening. The report card notes:

  • No more than 30% of developmental disabilities or delays are identified before children enter kindergarten.”
  • Within 1 year, 72% or 1.7 million of California’s youngest children did not receive any of the developmental screenings that are recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Children Now handed out an even worse D+ grade for access to oral health services, noting that more than a quarter of California children have untreated tooth decay. California students miss an estimated 874,000 days of school each year because of dental problems, the group noted.

To see the report card, click here.

To learn more about data on California children with special health care needs, click here.

To learn more about California children’s dental health, click here.

 

photo credit from flickr.

Posted by Barbara Feder Ostrov

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Invisible Dasani: New York Times Series on Homeless Girl Sparks National Conversation on Homelessness, Poverty

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A searing New York Times examination of one homeless girl’s life in New York City is calling national attention to poverty and homelessness and their long-term impact on children. As author Andrea Elliott writes:

One in five American children is now living in poverty, giving the United States the highest child poverty rate of any developed nation except for Romania.

This bodes poorly for the future. Decades of research have shown the staggering societal costs of children in poverty. They grow up with less education and lower earning power. They are more likely to have drug addiction, psychological trauma and disease, or wind up in prison.

The five-part series delves into the conditions faced by 11-year-old Dasani, her seven brothers and sisters and her troubled parents, all living in a single room in a decaying family shelter in Brooklyn. Dasani and her siblings are among more than 22,000 homeless children living in New York City.

In California, more than 220,000 public school students were homeless in 2011. About 23 percent of California’s children live below the federal poverty level, echoing national trends. However, families can earn well above the poverty level and still struggle to make ends meet. In 2012, about 58% of California’s public school students qualified for free or reduced price school meals, a program for low-income children.

More information on child poverty and homelessness can be found at kidsdata.org:

Homeless Public School Students (California Only)
Student Eligibility to Receive Free or Reduced Price School Meals

Children in Poverty (Regions of 65,000+ Residents)
Children in Poverty (3-Year Estimates for Regions of 20,000+ Residents)
by Race/Ethnicity
Children in Poverty (5-Year Estimates for Regions of 10,000+ Residents)

Children in Poverty – Supplemental Poverty Measure (State & U.S. Only)
by Race/Ethnicity

Children Living Above and Below the Poverty Level (Regions of 65,000+ Residents)
Children Living Above and Below the Poverty Level (3-Year Estimates for Regions of 20,000+ Residents)
by Family Type
Children Living Above and Below the Poverty Level (5-Year Estimates for Regions of 10,000+ Residents)

Median Family Income (Regions of 65,000+ Residents)
Median Family Income (3-Year Estimates for Regions of 20,000+ Residents)
Median Family Income (5-Year Estimates for Regions of 10,000+ Residents)

Income Needed for Self-Sufficiency Standard, by Household Type
Families Living Below the Self-Sufficiency Standard

Posted by Barbara Feder Ostrov

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Congressional Briefing: Measuring the Well-Being of Our Children

congressional briefing
If you’re in the Washington, DC area, this Congressional briefing is well worth attending. Here are the details:

Measuring the Well-Being of Our Children

Wed., Dec. 11
8:30am – 10am EDT

B-338 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, District of Columbia 20515

Join Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and the Congressional Children’s Caucus, in cooperation with First Focus and the Foundation for Child Development (FCD), to explore the 2013 FCD Child Well-Being Index (CWI).

The CWI tracks 28 Key Indicators of the quality-of-life of America’s children across seven Domains: Family Economic Well-Being, Safe/Risky Behavior, Social Relationships, Emotional/Spiritual Well-Being, Community Engagement, Educational Attainment, and Health. The panel will discuss comprehensive long-term trends since 1975 and Congress’ role in improving the well-being of children.

Opening Remarks

  • Mark Bogosian, Communications and Program Officer, Foundation for Child Development

Presenter

  • Kenneth C. Land, John Franklin Crowell Professor of Sociology and Faculty Director, Center for Population, Health, and Aging, Duke University

Panelists

  • Liz Ryan, President and Chief Executive Officer, Campaign for Youth Justice
  • Dave Schrandt, Homeless Liaison, Cypress-Fairbanks School District, Texas
  • Bruce Lesley, President, First Focus

To RSVP, click here.

As always, kidsdata.org is here to keep you posted on the latest data on the health and well being of California’s children. To learn more about using kidsdata.org’s state and national legislative mapping tools, click here. Learn more about our new features here.

 

RELATED CONTENT:

The New Kidsdata: Using Legislative Maps

Big Changes to Kidsdata.org

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The New Kidsdata: Using Legislative Maps

After a major upgrade to kidsdata.org, including redesigned maps, it’s a great time to take a fresh look at our legislative mapping tool.

While data sets collected specifically by legislative district are limited, kidsdata.org’s legislative mapping tool makes it easy to overlay legislative district boundaries on maps that show data collected by cities, counties or school districts. These overlays make it easier to see what’s happening in your federal or state legislative district.

It takes less than a minute to create your legislative data map. Here’s a step-by-step guide.

How to Overlay Legislative District Boundaries:

1. Find data of interest to you. Once you are on an indicator page, such as the one below, select the Map tab, and click the “edit” link next to Legislative Boundaries.

leg map overlay 1

 

2. Next, select your district type (Assembly, State Senate, or U.S. Congressional districts) under “Show Legislative Boundaries.” Don’t know your district? Hit the “What’s My District?” link.

leg map overlay 2

 

3. Then, select the districts you’d like to see on the map. You can select as many districts as you want, or, click “Check All” to view all districts. When you’re finished customizing, click “Submit” to build your legislative data map.

leg map overlay 3

 

4. View your map! You also can click “Download & Other Tools” to copy or embed your customized map, or generate a PDF topic overview including the map.

leg map overlay 4

If you have questions on how to use this legislative map tool or other aspects of kidsdata.org, please post your question on our blog or contact us directly at [email protected].

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New Data: Licensed Child Care in Short Supply for California Kids

childcare

At a time when concerns are rising nationwide about the high cost of child care, the California Child Care Resource & Referral Network today released new data about the cost, availability, and need for child care in the state’s 58 counties.

Among the data highlights:

  • 2012 data show there are just over 1 million licensed child care spaces available for an estimated 4.2 million children ages 0-12 whose parents are in the workforce. That means three of four children who may need care do not have a licensed child care space. Click here to see how many licensed child care slots there are in your county.
  • The average cost in California for full-time infant care in a child care center is $11,461 (click here to see data for your county), according to 2012 data. Nationally, California ranks sixth as the least affordable state for center-based infant care, according to an analysis by the advocacy group Child Care Aware.
  • The supply of licensed child care slots in California rose by 22 percent between 2000 and 2008, but has been declining since then.

You can find more data for your county via these links:

Annual Cost of Child Care, by Age Group and Type of Facility

Availability of Child Care for Potential Demand

Availability of Child Care, by Facility’s Schedule and Type of Facility

Number of Child Care Slots in Licensed Facilities, by Type of Facility

Number of Licensed Child Care Facilities, by Type of Facility

Parent Requests for Child Care, by Age

Parent Requests for Evening/Weekend/Overnight Child Care

Posted by Barbara Feder Ostrov

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Big Changes to Kidsdata.org

With a new look and many improvements, kidsdata.org now makes it easier than ever to find and use data about the health and well being of California children.

Read on to see what’s new:

Children-Working-on-Laptop

Need to customize your tables, charts and maps by location, year, age, ethnicity or other category?

All locations now are listed next to each graph, so you can immediately select the regions of interest to you. Options for changing the years, demographic groups, etc. also are located right above every graph, so it’s quick and easy to tailor your data display to meet your needs.

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Want to view your data in various formats?

All of our data charting and mapping tools have been significantly enhanced. Click on the images below to check them out:

Bar Graphs:

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Trend Graphs:

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Maps:

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Pie Graphs:

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Would you like to receive occasional updates on data that interests you?
Sign up here for our customized E-Alerts.

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Interested in being notified about occasional webinars on how to make the most out of the new kidsdata.org?
Send us an email and we’ll add your name to the list.

Have other questions or want to provide feedback about the new kidsdata.org?
Post a question on our “Ask a Data Question” page, contact us at [email protected], or see our Help page.

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Bullying Prevention Month: Kidsdata.org Sheds Light on Bullying Data in California

Bullying - Child with Hands Out

October is Bullying Prevention Month, a time to remember that everyone can have a voice in raising awareness of bullying. Bullying Prevention Month was launched in 2006 by the PACER Center for children with disabilities, to encourage individuals to take an active role in the bullying prevention movement.

Bullying and harassment can have both short- and long-term effects on children and youth. Research shows that, in addition to the risk of physical injury, victims of bullying are at greater risk of depression, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts than other children and youth.

About 42% of 7th graders, 35% of 9th graders, and 28% of 11th graders in California reported being bullied or harassed at school at least once in the past year, according to 2008-10 data from kidsdata.org. Bullying and harassment at school have taken on new forms in recent years as more children and youth use social media. Recent deaths of teens in California and nationwide have prompted a national conversation on bullying, and a number of new bullying prevention efforts have emerged. In addition, federal lawmakers are considering anti-bullying legislation that would provide money to schools nationwide to improve learning conditions, increase opportunities for physical activity and nutrition education, prevent drug use and violence, and promote mental health.

When youth are bullied or harassed at school, the most common reason cited is because of race or national origin. Students who are gay, lesbian, or bisexual — or who are perceived to be – also are at particularly high risk of being bullied or harassed.

For more information about bullying in California, see these measures on kidsdata.org:

Any Reason for Bullying/Harassment, by Grade Level

by Gender and Grade Level
by Level of Connectedness to School
by Race/Ethnicity

Disability as Reason for Bullying/Harassment, by Grade Level

by Gender and Grade Level
by Level of Connectedness to School
by Race/Ethnicity

         Gender as Reason for Bullying/Harassment, by Grade Level

by Gender and Grade Level
by Level of Connectedness to School
by Race/Ethnicity

         Race or National Origin as Reason for Bullying/Harassment, by Grade Level

by Gender and Grade Level
by Level of Connectedness to School
by Race/Ethnicity

         Religion as Reason for Bullying/Harassment, by Grade Level

by Gender and Grade Level
by Level of Connectedness to School
by Race/Ethnicity

         Sexual Orientation as Reason for Bullying/Harassment, by Grade Level

by Gender and Grade Level
by Level of Connectedness to School
by Race/Ethnicity

Posted by Suny Um

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California’s Declining Child Population: At the County Level, a Complex Shift

California’s child population is shrinking, but until now, it has been challenging to understand the complexity of how that demographic shift is playing out in the state’s 58 counties.

A new analysis by University of Southern California demographer Dowell Myers shows that the state’s population of children younger age 10 years old declined by 3.4% between 2000 and 2010. While the child population in some counties grew 20% or more, a few counties lost more than 15% of their children under age 10.

Here are the counties with the biggest declines in child population between 2000 and 2010:

Sierra (-24.5%)
Los Angeles (-16.9%)
Plumas (-15%)
Lassen (-14.1%)
San Benito (-13.4%)

Here are the top gainers in child population in the same decade:

Madera County (18.9%)
Kern County (20.6%)
Alpine County (22.8%)
Riverside County (26.2%)
Placer County (27.7%)

Why is the number of kids in a county important? As Myers suggests in a study commissioned by the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, kids born in 2015 will bear double the economic burden of supporting the state’s economy compared to their peers born in 1985. By 2030, children are expected to comprise just 21% of California’s population, down from 33% in 1970, even as the population of aging Baby Boomers expands.

Want to learn more about child population and other demographic trends in your California county? Click here.

Related Indicators on Kidsdata.org:

Child Population
by Age and Gender
by Race/Ethnicity
by City, School District and County (65,000 Residents or More)
by City, School District and County (20,000 Residents or More)
by City, School District and County (10,000 Residents or More)

Posted by Barbara Feder Ostrov

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