Blog
Five Years of NPCH
We recently celebrated the 5th anniversary of the National Poll on Children’s Health!
Since 2007, we’ve kept our finger on the public’s pulse when it comes to children’s health, providing timely information about the most pressing children’s health topics and concerns. To celebrate 5 years of NPCH, let’s take a look back at some of our most popular reports:
More children expected to seek care at retail clinics - Volume 1, Issue 1
The first NPCH Report was about the growing trend of retail clinics, small walk-in health care offices within department stores or pharmacies. We found that 10% of U.S. children had used a retail clinic for health care and 15% of children were expected to use a retail clinic in the future. Children who had used retail clinics were less likely to have a regular doctor than children who had not used retail clinics. This was the first report ever to look at use of retail clinics for children’s care.
Parental concerns about childhood obesity: time for a reality check? – Volume 2, Issue 3
In December 2007, we released a report that offered a new perspective on the epidemic of childhood obesity – we asked parents about their perceptions of their own child’s weight. We found that many parents of obese children age 6-11 were not very concerned about their child’s weight and more than 40% of these parents thought their obese child was “about the right weight”. Other researchers have followed up on this type of measurement.
Drug abuse now equals childhood obesity as top health concern for kids – Volume 13, Issue 3
In 2011, childhood obesity topped the annual list of the top 10 children’s health problems in the eyes of adults across the U.S. for the fourth year in a row. But this time, drug abuse joined childhood obesity in a tie for first place. This report showed that while childhood obesity was still on the public’s radar as a serious health concern for kids, drug abuse was now at an equal level of concern.
It’s been a great 5 years researching and reporting on child health and health policy related to kids. We look forward to continuing our commitment to contribute to the public dialogue about children’s health.