Healthy Children Introduction
Too many Colorado children live in poverty, and too few have health
insurance. Roughly 120,000 (14 percent) of
the state’s children
under age 12 had no form of insurance in 2006.
Forty-three states—including some much poorer
than Colorado—did better at this. Children
without insurance are more likely to have no
primary health care provider, and thus are
less likely to get needed medical and dental
care. Too few Colorado children get enough
exercise, and 10 percent are overweight. While Colorado children are
among the leanest in the nation, the state
does poorly on most other indicators, resulting in a grade of C-.
Insuring our children, seeing that they have a medical
and dental home, and making sure they get enough
exercise will better prepare them for the challenges
of adolescence and adulthood.
Healthy
Children: Health Indicators
and Rank among states
Health
Indicator |
Rank
among states |
| 14.1 percent of
children are not covered by private or
public health insurance |
44 |
| 14.4
percent of children live in
families with incomes below the federal
poverty level |
16 |
| 45.8
percent of children have a primary
care provider AND consistently received
all needed care, including one or more
preventative care visits during the past
12 months |
28 |
| 70.5
percent of children received
all the routine dental preventive care
needed in the past 12 months |
38 |
| 57.1
percent of school-age children
participated in vigorous physical activity
for four or more days per week |
37 |
| 9.9
percent of children are overweight |
3 |
Average
Rank |
27.7 |
Average
Grade |
C- |
|
