U.S. Children Found to Be at Higher Risk of Death than Other High-Income Countries

Chronic Disease Rates in American Children also Increasing

In a study published in July 2025, the authors examined mortality trends in U.S. children.  They compared mortality data from the U.S. to 18 high-income countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Between the years 2007 and 2022, U.S. infants less than one year of age had a 78% increased risk of dying compared to infants from the other 18 countries.  American 1- to 19-year-olds had an 80% higher risk of dying compared to the other countries.  During the study period, it was calculated that there were 315,795 excess deaths in the U.S. compared with the other 18 countries, which equals 54 excess American infant/child/teenage deaths per day. 

Infants in the U.S. were 2.22 times more likely to be born premature, 48% more likely to have congenital abnormalities, 69% more likely to have a respiratory infection, and 2.39 times more likely to suffer a sudden unexpected infant death than in the other countries. U.S. infants did have a 22% lower risk of dying from birth related respiratory problems or trauma.  

In the 1- to 19-year-old age group, there was a 15.43 times greater risk of dying from firearms in the U.S. compared to other countries.  American children and teenagers were 2.45 times more likely to die from motor vehicle accidents, 5.25 times more likely to die from substance abuse, and 5.32 times more likely to die from homicide than in the other 18 countries.  Suicide rates and cancer deaths were approximately equal for the U.S. and the other countries. 

The authors also compared chronic medical conditions of U.S. children/teenagers ages 3 to 17 from the years 2011 to 2023. They reported that American children/teenagers had 15% to 20% more chronic condition diagnoses in 2023 compared to 2011. The eight conditions with the greatest increase, in 2023 compared to 2011 were: a 3.3 times higher risk of major depression, a 3.22 times higher risk of sleep apnea, a 3.2 times higher risk of eating disorder, a 3.06 times higher risk of anxiety, a 2.62 times higher risk of autism spectrum disorder, a 2.37 times higher risk of obesity, a 2.06 times higher risk of a lipid metabolism disorder, and a 2.05 times higher risk of a developmental disorder.

The authors concluded that their study indicated that the health of U.S. children had steadily declined from 2007 to 2023.

Weaknesses of the study include that the authors did not compare the subjects’ socioeconomic status to the risk of mortality or chronic condition. There may be significant differences in children’s health outcomes depending on their family’s socioeconomic status.  They did not delve into the root causes of their findings.  The data was based on retrospective databases, which are dependent on the level of documentation by practitioners.  There was also some mortality data missing from some of the countries during the COVID epidemic years. 

Comments: 

This is a sobering report that, if true, indicates U.S. children are dying from various causes at a higher rate than children in the other 18 income-rich nations they were compared to.  In addition, the overall health of American children appears to have worsened over a 12-year period, with an increased rate of both chronic medical and psychological disease diagnoses.  

This report should be a wake-up call for the U.S. to re-evaluate what can be done to improve the overall health of American children/teenagers.  According to the data, in the 1- to 19-year-old age group, there are 54 excess deaths in the U.S. every day compared to other countries.  There has been a 15% to 20% increase in the rate of chronic disease diagnoses in U.S. 3- to 17-year-olds from 2011 to 2023.  

Hopefully, steps will be taken to alter what the data in this study reveals: that growing up in America appears to increase the chances of a premature death, compared to other income-rich countries in the world, and the risk of U.S. children/teenagers developing a chronic medical or psychological condition has increased over time.

References

Forrest CB, Koenigsberg LJ, Eddy Harvey F, Maltenfort MG, Halfon N. Trends in US Children’s Mortality, Chronic Conditions, Obesity, Functional Status, and Symptoms. JAMA. Published online July 07, 2025. Retrieved from: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2836060?utm_campaign=articlePDF&utm_medium=articlePDFlink&utm_source=articlePDF&utm_content=jama.2025.9855