Child Development Data and Statistics

magnifying glass with spreadsheets

The following websites provide information and tools related to child development data.

Kids Count U.S. Census Data
KIDS COUNT is a national and state-by-state project of the Casey Foundation to track the status of children in the United States. Data available for analysis include family and child demographics, and measures of child educational, social, economic, and physical well-being.

National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH)
The NSCH examines the physical and emotional health of children ages 0-17 years of age. The survey provides data to estimate national and state-level prevalence of physical, emotional, and behavioral child health indicators as well as information on the child’s family context and neighborhood environment.

National Survey on Drug Use & Health (formerly National Household Survey on Drug Abuse)
The NSDUH is an annual nationwide survey involving interviews with approximately 70,000 randomly selected individuals aged 12 and older. The Survey provides national and state-level data on the use of tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs (including non-medical use of prescription drugs) and mental health in the United States.

National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
The NHIS has monitored the health of the nation since 1957. The NHIS is a large-scale household interview survey of a statistically representative sample of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population. Interview data are collected on a broad range of health topics including, caregiver reports of child health, mental health and disability status.

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
The NHANES assesses the health and nutritional status of a nationally representative sample of about 5,000 adults and children in the United States. The survey combines interviews and physical examinations and includes demographic, socioeconomic, dietary, and health-related questions. The examination component consists of medical, dental, and physiological measurements, as well as laboratory tests administered by highly trained medical personnel.

National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG)The NSFG gathers information on family life, marriage and divorce, pregnancy, infertility, use of contraception, and general and reproductive health.

National Vital Statistics System (NVSS)
The NVSS contains vital statistics from the official records of live births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, divorces, and annulment recorded by states and independent registration areas

Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS)
The YRBSS is an ongoing national school-based survey designed to monitor priority health-risk behaviors and the prevalence of obesity and asthma among youth and young adults in grades 9-12 in the U.S. Data were collected from students biennially beginning in 1991. Approximately 16,000 students completed the survey in the most recent data collection wave in 2009.

Data Tools

America’s Children
America’s Children is a report on key national indicators of well-being published annually by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. The America’s Children series makes Federal data on children and families available in a nontechnical, easy-to-use format in order to stimulate discussion among data providers, policymakers, and the public.

Healthy People 2030
Healthy People provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans, including infants, children, and adolescents

NCHS Survey Measures Catalog
The Survey Measures Catalog of the National Center on Health Statistics provides an overview of questions about child and adolescent mental health, and functioning and disability in various surveys of the NCHS Data Systems. Some of the survey measures are included in both the mental health section and the functioning and disability section of the catalog.

Highlighted Articles

Parenting Groups – Do They Change How Mothers Think About Parenting?
Read about mothers who participated in the Legacy for Children™ parenting group program, and how it affected their views on parenting.

Treatment of Disruptive Behavior Problems – What Works?
Learn about current evidence on the most effective treatments for behavior problems in children.

Factors Associated with Mental, Behavioral, and Developmental Disorders in Early Childhood.
Learn about family, community and health-care factors related to children’s mental, behavioral or developmental disorder.

Reassessing the approach of the Learn the Signs. Act Early. campaign.
Learn about parents’ responses to the Learn the Signs. Act Early materials.

Supporting Parents To Help Children Thrive
Learn how CDC helps parents get the support and information they need.

Developmental Milestones Matter!
Learn about the CDC Milestone Tracker.

Helping Children Thrive in Rural Communities
Information on children with mental, behavioral, and developmental disorders in rural and urban areas.

Parenting Matters
Parents are among the most important people in the lives of young children.

Improving Children’s Behavioral Health
Learn what CDC is doing about gaps in behavioral treatment for children.

Children’s Mental Health Report
Learn about the CDC report that describes federal activities that track U.S. children’s mental disorders.