Access to Health Care for Young Children in the United States

Rethinking Well-Child Care

“…Children's physical health is better than it ever has been. 3 Scientific progress has led to substantial reductions in many of the acute morbidities of the early 20th century and increasing survival from acute illness and premature birth. However, increasing survival has led to a higher prevalence of "new morbidities" such as obesity, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, behavior disorders, depression, and adolescent risk behaviors has become more obvious, and the incidence is increasing.…”

Narrowing the Income Gaps in Preventive Care for Young Children: Families in Healthy Steps

“…14,27,28 Mothers' satisfaction with health care has been shown to be a significant predictor of up-to-date immunizations for their children. 29 Although the direction of the effect between satisfaction and receipt of services is not always clear, 29 these findings suggest that improved perceptions of health care delivery systems may ultimately be associated with increased use of preventive health services.…”

“…Low-income parents also are less likely to report that they discuss a number of child-rearing topics with health care professionals and are more likely than their more affluent counterparts to be dissatisfied with the care they received from their child's clinician and with how well the clinician listened to or answered their questions. 14 Recently, there have been a number of efforts to promote preventive and developmental services as a part of pediatric primary care. 15 One national effort to incorporate developmental services in pediatric primary care is Healthy Steps for Young Children.…”