The World Health Organization defines good health as being a “state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
In other words, none of us is healthy.
Children, on the other hand, are a different story. And it turns out that much of our hand-wringing over the deteriorating state of our children’s well-being has been a waste of time. If we’re to believe government statistics – which I admit can be a huge leap of faith – kids are healthier than ever.
America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2007, is a report that “serves as a national report card providing a comprehensive overview of America’s most valuable resource – its children,” according to Dr. Duane Alexander, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Let’s begin with obesity, one of the most exaggerated threats to our collective welfare.
According to America’s Children, around 18 percent of kids are overweight or obese – the same number it was in the last study. Which I suspect is the exact number it was when you were a kid.
On the flip side, children living in homes classified as “food insecure” – which to the average human being means “poor” – also dropped. Poor kids, by the way, are also the ones typically overweight and obese.
Increasingly, kids are being read to by their parents, which is a key indicator of “wellness.” And more kids are graduating high school then ever before, a key indicator that kids will one day find a half-decent job.
Furthermore, despite the faithful concerns about overly sexualized television and music, fewer high school students are having sex these days.
And the ones that are having sex use condoms more often.
Those numbers add up to lower teen birth rates. Actually, the birth rate among teens hit a record low in 2005. The rate has dropped 40 percent over the past 15 years.
In Colorado, if you subtract the number of teachers having sex with students we probably could drop that figure down another 10 to 15 percent.
It’s not all good news, though. The most worrisome section of the study is about minority children, especially Hispanic teens, who are four times as likely as white teens to have children.
I spoke to Pastor Mark Lopez at Westside Christian Fellowship, who is active in the local Latino community, about this disturbing trend. I’m taken aback by his responses.
Though Lopez claims he understands that “Hispanics lag” in education and other areas, he doesn’t view it as health problem but a cultural one. Or more precisely, he doesn’t view it as much of a problem at all.
“Our kids are told if they hold off on sex and get an education they’ll make more money over the lifetime,” says Lopez, who, I suspect, doesn’t represent a mainstream Latino opinion. “Here’s the thing. Latinos, we are not as outcome based, in the sense that we don’t have to be successful, or what this culture calls ‘successful.’ We value our success in terms of family. Kids are family. Babies are family. When you constantly tell parents that test scores are a measure of worth, kids don’t respond to that.”
But test scores are a measure of worth. Not your entire worth, of course. But surely the skills a child will need to be a successful citizen are worth measuring.
Educational success needn’t be in a struggle with family success. In reality, the opposite is true. A good education equates to a healthier life for families.
This fact is borne out in study after study, including “America’s Children.”
“Sure, it will hurt us in terms of earning power and the ability to have a voice in politics and in the neighborhood,” Lopez goes on. “But those are European Anglo-Saxon American yardsticks that we’re measuring people by.”
Yes, and that American yardstick is a pretty good one – considering the alternatives.
Making excuses for Latino teens who start families far too early only hurts them and their children.
The “America’s Children” study shows us that even if we experience some tribulations, our children, overall, are living impressively salubrious lives.
Everyone deserves a piece of that action.
David Harsanyi’s column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at 303-954-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com.
