Kansas Health Institute | Information For Policy Makers. Health for Kansans.

TOPEKA — Kansas ranks 13th among the 50 states in terms of child well-being, according to the 2010 KIDS COUNT report.

It was 13th last year, too.

“We’re holding our own in these difficult times,” said Shannon Cotsoradis, chief executive of Kansas Action for Children.

Produced each year by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, KIDS COUNT uses 10 data-defined benchmarks to measure and rank child well-being in all 50 states.

In the latest report, released Tuesday, the data show that since 2000 Kansas has improved in four areas and gone backward in four. Two categories weren’t assigned a trend due to changes in data availability.

The most troubling data, Cotsoradis said, showed that between 2000 and 2008, the number of children in families at or below the federal poverty level - $21,834 a year for a family of four – increased by 25 percent.

“We’re talking about 100,000 kids growing up in poverty,” she said. “And I don’t mean low-income, I mean poverty. It’s pretty astonishing to think that in the last eight years, this number has gone up by 25 percent.

In 2000, 12 percent of the state’s children were living below the poverty level; in 2008, 15 percent were in poverty.

“What’s especially troubling is that the most recent data year is 2008, so the recession is not fully reflected in the numbers,” Cotsoradis said. “So the numbers are likely to get worse.”

With 15 percent of its children in poverty, Kansas and four other states ranked 18th in the nation in that category. The others: Colorado, Nevada, North Dakota, and Rhode Island.

New Hampshire was first with 9 percent; Mississippi last with 30 percent.

Other findings:

• Infant Mortality - Kansas and Michigan’s infant mortality ranked 40th worst in the nation.

In 2007, Kansas had 7.9 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, a 16 percent increase over its infant mortality rate in 2000.

In 2007, 3,314 children in Kansas died before their first birthday; in 2000, 2,736 died.

Washington and Massachusetts led the nation with 4.8 and 4.9 deaths per 1,000 births, respectively. Alabama and Mississippi were the worst: 9.9 and 10.0 deaths per 1,000 births, respectively.

• Child and teen deaths – In 2007, 19 of every 1,000 children between ages 1 and 14 died ; 69 out of every 1,000 children ages 15 to 19 died. Kansas ranked 19th and 29th respectively.

In 2007, 100 children between ages 1 and 15 died in Kansas; in 2000, 138 died.

In 2007, 139 teens between ages 16 and 19 died in Kansas; in 2000, 164 died.

“What we’re beginning to see in these numbers, I think, is the impact of laws requiring booster seats and teen seat belts,” Cotsoradis said. “I can’t say one caused the other, but I think that in the long term, a commitment to passenger safety contributes to the downtrend in both of these numbers.”

• Low-birth weight – In 2000, 6.9 percent of all babies born in Kansas weighed less than 2,500 grams (about 5.5 pounds); in 2007; 7.1 percent.

In 2,000, 2,752 babies were born with low birth weights. In 2007: 2,982.

Kansas and Arizona were ranked 16th. Alaska led the nation with 5.7 percent. Louisiana and Mississippi were the worst with 11 percent and 12.3 percent respectively.

• Kids In school – In 2000, 10 percent of Kansas children ages 16 to 19 were not in school and had not graduated. By 2007: 5 percent.

In this category, Kansas was ranked 10th with four other states: Connecticut, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

• Family income security -- Though 22 percent of the children in Kansas lived in households in which no parent had full-time employment in all of 2008, 41 states had higher percentages.

In six states – Arkansas, Louisiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, Alaska and Mississippi – almost one in three children were in living with under-employed parents.

“This is another one of those numbers that I’m afraid is going to get worse over the next two or three years because it doesn’t really reflect the full impact of the recession,” Cotsoradis said.

Kansas Action for Children is the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s designee in Kansas.

The latest report is national in scope. A report that looks at each state, county-by-county is due in November.