Maternal and Child Health Library

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July 18, 2008

1. FACT SHEET ON ADOLESCENT AND YOUNG ADULT POPULATION DEMOGRAPHICS RELEASED

The 2008 Fact Sheet on Demographics: Adolescents and Young Adults contains the most recent available data on the U.S. adolescent and young adult population (ages 10-24) through 2006. The updated fact sheet, produced by the National Adolescent Health Information Center at the University of California, San Francisco, with support from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, highlights trends and presents data on racial and ethnic make-up, poverty rates, family structure types, school-enrollment rates, the median age of first marriage, and childbearing among unmarried young adult females. Information on data and figure sources is included. The fact sheet is available at http://nahic.ucsf.edu/download.php?f=/downloads/Demographics08.pdf. A list of other NAHIC-produced briefs and fact sheets is available at http://nahic.ucsf.edu/index.php/data/article/briefs_fact_sheets.

• In 2006, 69.2% of the U.S. population served by community water systems received optimally fluoridated water, an increase from 62.1% in 1992 and from 65.0% in 2000.
• State-specific percentages in 2006 ranged from 8.4% in Hawaii to 100% in the District of Columbia (median: 77.0%).
• In 2006, the Healthy People 2010 target of 75% had been met by 25 states and the District of Columbia.
• Overall, approximately 184 million persons served by community water systems received fluoridated water; of that number, approximately 8 million received water with sufficient naturally occurring fluoride concentrations.
• During 1992-2006, 39 states reported increases in the percentage of their populations served by community water systems who received optimally fluoridated water; percentage-point increases ranged from 0.3 in Alabama to 69.9 in Nevada (median: 6.2). Ten states had decreases; percentage-point decreases ranged from 0.2 in Kentucky and North Dakota to 17.0 in Idaho (median: 4.3) (Table 2). Throughout 1992-2006, 100% of the District of Columbia population served by community water systems received optimally fluoridated water.

• During the past 15 years, the percentage of pediatricians involved in community child health activities in the preceding year rose from 56.6% in 1989 to 59.4% in 1993 but declined to 45.1% in 2004.
• Among those who participate in community activities, more pediatricians in 2004 compared with preceding years reported that their community participation was voluntary (79.6% in 2004 vs. 57.8% in 1993 vs. 48.6% in 1989); however, the percentage of all pediatricians engaged in volunteer activities from 1993 to 2004 was consistent (34.3% in 1993 vs. 35.9% in 2004).
• In 2004, more participants than nonparticipants reported that their level of involvement was “just right” (52.5% vs. 24.9%), felt moderately or very responsible for improving child health in their community at a population level (84.2% vs. 69.4%), expected that their community work in the next 5 years would increase (63.5% vs. 54.1%), and reported higher levels of community pediatrics skills.

• The median duration of breastfeeding was 4 months in the intervention group and 16 months in the control group.
• There was no significant difference in HIV-free survival between the two groups; at age 24 months, 68.4% of the children in the intervention group, compared with 64.0% in the control group, were alive and not infected with HIV.
• Among 152 children with confirmed HIV infection before age 4 months, cumulative mortality rates by age 24 months were 77.1% in the intervention group and 61.1% in the control group.