By DR. LISA SAUL
UnitedHealthcare
United Health Foundation recently released its America’s Health Rankings 2024 Health of Women and Children Report. The report provides a comprehensive look at the health of over 59 million women of reproductive age and over 72 million children, examining overall health across the nation, including mental, behavioral and physical health outcomes, as well as social drivers of health outcomes.
Many measures have worsened for women in recent years, such as maternal mortality and drug deaths. Meanwhile, two measures of clinical care for pregnant women — low-risk cesarean delivery and adequate prenatal care — have not changed.
There are bright spots in children’s health, including decreases in the teen suicide rate and the prevalence of overweight and obesity among youth. These were offset by the increase in child mortality.
California ranks 14th among 50 U.S. states, but ranked No. 1 in areas such as Climate Policies, Minimal Tobacco Use among Children and Cigarette Smoking among Women. The state also ranks first in Low Maternal Mortality Rates.
Key findings in our state include:
Unemployment dropped 44 percent among female civilians between 2021 and 2022.
Children in Poverty dropped 12 percent between 2018 and 2022.
Uninsured Women dropped 10 percent between 2021 and 2022.
Well-Child Visits dropped 7 percent between 2019-2020 and 2022-2023.
Strengths identified in California include:
Low mortality rate among women ages 20-44
High WIC coverage among eligible children ages 0-4
High percentage of infants exclusively breastfed for six months
Challenges facing California:
High prevalence of public school students experiencing homelessness
High prevalence of unemployment among women
Low prevalence of well-child visits
The report also highlights the national need to address health challenges and disparities affecting women and children, particularly rising maternal mortality rates.
Some of the report’s key national findings include: Long-term growth in mortality rates: Maternal mortality increased 34 percent between 2014-2018 and 2018-2022.
Worsening physical health, depression, and drug death rates in women: The prevalence of asthma and obesity both increased in women ages 18-44, by 9 percent and 8 percent respectively, from 2019-2020 to 2021-2022. At the same time, depression increased by 11 percent between 2019-2020 and 2021-2022. Drug deaths also increased by 38 percent between 2017-2019 and 2020-2022.
Declining teen suicide rates: The teen suicide rate dropped by 6 percent in 2020-2022, down from a 2017-2019 peak. But diagnosed mental health conditions increased by 12 percent between 2020-2021 and 2022-2023, and child mortality rose by 14 percent between 2017-2019 and 2020-2022.
America’s Health Rankings, produced by the United Health Foundation, is the longest-running state-by-state analysis of the nation’s health, providing important insights into the health of various populations, including older adults, women and children, and veterans. Policymakers, health officials and researchers use these reports to better understand the specific health concerns in their communities.
For more information, go to www.AmericasHealthRankings.org.
Dr. Lisa Saul serves as the UnitedHealthcare National Director for Maternal Child Health.
