High Health Status - Children in Florida

Florida

Self-reported health status measures how individuals perceive their health. Parents with young children are asked to estimate their children's health. Reported health status is a subjective measure of health-related quality of life that is not limited to specific health conditions or outcomes, but also factors in social support, ability and ease of functioning and other socioeconomic, environmental and cultural components. The association between health status and mortality makes this measure a good predictor of future mortality rates and health care use.

According to America’s Health Rankings analysis, the prevalence of children described as being in “very good” or “excellent” health is higher among:

• Children without special health care needs compared with children with special health care needs. 
• Children with a parent or guardian who graduated from college compared with those whose parents or guardians have less than a high school education. The prevalence increases with each higher level of education.
• Higher-income households.

The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends implementing high-quality, center-based early childhood education programs to improve health outcomes. These programs promote health equity and narrow the educational achievement gap, especially for children in low-income or racial/ethnic minority communities.

Additional strategies that promote children’s health include:

• Scheduling regular well-child visits.
• Getting immunizations in a timely manner.
• Encouraging healthy eating by incorporating more fruits and vegetables into their diets.
• Providing physical education and opportunities to attain the recommended 60 minutes of exercise a day.
• Developing healthy sleep habits.

The Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant tracks several national performance measures focused on children's health.

Balaj, Mirza. “Self-Reported Health and the Social Body.” Social Theory & Health 20, no. 1 (March 1, 2022): 71–89. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41285-020-00150-0.

Lorem, Geir, Sarah Cook, David A. Leon, Nina Emaus, and Henrik Schirmer. “Self-Reported Health as a Predictor of Mortality: A Cohort Study of Its Relation to Other Health Measurements and Observation Time.” Scientific Reports 10 (December 2020): 4886. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61603-0.

Ramon, Ismaila, Sajal K. Chattopadhyay, W. Steven Barnett, and Robert A. Hahn. “Early Childhood Education to Promote Health Equity: A Community Guide Economic Review.” Journal of Public Health Management and Practice 24, no. 1 (2018): e8–15. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHH.0000000000000557.