Growing Up in North America: Child Health and Safety in Canada, the United States, and Mexico
Download Growing Up in North America: Child Health and Safety in Canada, the United States, and Mexico from www.childreninnorthamerica.org.
(May 2007) There are roughly 120 million children in North America: 73 million in the United States, more than 39 million in Mexico, and about 7 million in Canada. They account for over one-quarter of the 426 million people who live on this continent.
The daily lives of these children are shaped by where they live. They are residents of a continent undergoing significant change in the way their elders cooperate, do business, and engage with the rest of the world.
So far, the existing trilateral efforts among the governments of Canada, the United States, and Mexico have resulted in detailed monitoring and reporting on diverse issues—from textile production to shipping to avian flu. But fundamental issues are being ignored. There exists no such detailed monitoring and reporting on the well-being of those who will have a significant role to play in achieving future prosperity.
Securing the well-being of our young people requires greater cooperation and information sharing. The tri-national work done for this new report Growing Up in North America: Child Health and Safety in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, was completed through the Children in North America Project. The project is a collaboration of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Canadian Council on Social Development, the Children's Rights Network in Mexico, and the Population Reference Bureau.
The report shows that we have only a partial picture of how our children are doing. There are significant knowledge gaps that if better understood could help us make wise and cost-effective decisions in support of children and youth.
Highlights of the report:
- Obesity. All three countries report that the rates of obesity and being overweight among young people are too high.
- Respiratory illness. Respiratory illness has become epidemic in large portions of North America.
- Chemical exposure. Continued exposure of some children to lead in their environment is having serious effects on their development.
- Mental health. All three countries have identified depression as a serious mental health problem among youth.
- Cancer. For all three countries, cancer is the second leading cause of death for children ages 5 to 14.
- Safety and security. Unintentional injury remains the leading cause of death in all three countries among children and youth over age 1.
For more information on the Children in North America Project, go to: www.childreninnorthamerica.org.