Overall child well-being has improved, new report finds.

WASHINGTON -- Today's young people engage in less risky behavior, are healthier, and have better access to educational opportunities than their parents did when they were teens, a recent report suggests.

But the overall gains that have been made over the last 30 years might already be slowing, according to the 2008 Foundation for Child Development Child and Youth Well-Being Index (CWI) report.

Young people living in poverty are still at higher risk for problems such as teenage pregnancy, overweight, involvement in violent crimes, and less access to educational opportunities, panelists said at a press conference held by the New America Foundation to announce the results.

The report, which is issued annually, found that the poverty rate among children aged 12-17 years slightly increased between the early (1975-1977) and late years (2003-2005) of the study, rising from 15.5% for "late baby boomers" in the first time period to 16.3% among "echo boomers" in the second period. The teenagers of 1975-1977 are likely to include many who are now the parents of teenagers, according to the report.

One possible reason for the higher poverty rate is the increase in the number of single-parent families living in poverty. Kenneth Land, Ph.D., the project coordinator for the study, said that although the percentage of single-parent families living in poverty rose from 32% in 2004 to just 32.3% in 2005, that increase represents 160,000 more adolescents living in poverty.

The 2008 report is an updated measure of trends over the period from 1975 to 2006, with projections for 2007.

Dr. Land, a professor of sociology and demography at Duke University, Durham, N.C., said that, although there have been significant changes in child well-being for today's adolescents, he projected that, "We're in kind of a stable stagnant period with a slight moderate change in 2007." Dr. Land said the current housing and energy crisis, and rates of inflation and joblessness probably will have a negative effect on child well-being.

He also reported that there has been a decline in mortality rates when comparing the boomers with the echo boomers. "Much of that relates to declines in accidental deaths," and better technology and treatment of diseases and other health issues over the last 3 decades. While mortality rates are down from 62 per 100,000 among boomers aged 10-19 years to 38 per 100,000 among 10- to 19-year-olds in the echo boomer generation, Dr. Land imparted bad news about the high prevalence in overweight. The study showed that, for young people who were aged 12-19 years during the years 1975-1977, the rate of overweight was 5.7%. For the years 2003-2005, the rate skyrocketed to a rate of 18%.

Dr. Anisha Abraham, chief of the section of adolescent medicine at Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, another panelist, noted that in her D.C. practice she is seeing more teens and children having to be treated for high cholesterol levels, and other major health problems, including cardiovascular disease.

Many of her patients have presented with anxiety and depression. According to the CWI, rates of suicide between the ages of 10 and 19 have increased slightly from 4% in boomers to 5% among echo boomers.

Cigarette smoking decreased from 39% among high school seniors in 1975-1977 to 24% in 2003-2005. Binge drinking decreased from 38% to 28% among high school seniors, respectively, and illicit drug use fell from 34% to 24%). The study attributes these declines to parental monitoring, school policies, the role of religion, and more participation in community organizations among today's youth.

The decline in teenage pregnancy rates also was highlighted during the press conference by Kelleen Kaye, director of research for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. According to the CWI, the teen birth rate per 1,000 dropped from 35/1,000 to 22/1,000.

The teen pregnancy rate has been falling lower than 1972, so these kids are better off than their parents, she said. But she said one can argue about what is improving these statistics.

BY LORINDA BULLOCK

Associate Editor