Children’s anxiety and teen suicide both increased dramatically before and during the epidemic, highlighting the critical need for continuous behavioral health treatment. While there has been measurable progress in recent years to monitor and improve women’s and children’s health, the United Health Foundation’s “America’s Health Rankings 2021 Health of Women and Children Report” highlights improvements, challenges, and disparities in health and well-being across all 50 states.
- Distress: The survey also discovered that women are experiencing more frequent mental distress, that women are becoming more obese, and that youngsters are not getting enough physical activity. Maternal mortality and morbidity are on the rise, particularly among Black moms in certain areas.
- Measurements: Behavioral health measurements for children, in particular, revealed considerable issues prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In other categories, such as teen birth rates and the incidence of cigarette smoking among women, the report indicates progress. Others, such as the number of low-birth-weight newborns, have remained stable.
- Improvement: As detailed in the 2020 Sustainability Report, UnitedHealth Group and the United Health Foundation are striving to reduce health disparities and improve health equity. However, there is still considerable work to be done in order to create more equitable health outcomes. The United Health Foundation promotes the use of America’s Health Rankings reports as a tool for improving community health.
- Reproductive: The “Health of Women and Children Report” examines overall health across the country leading up to and during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, examining over 58 million women of reproductive age and over 73 million children.
- Report: This year’s report delves further into maternal health hazards as well as other pressing public health topics. While the country has had consistent progress in various sectors throughout the years, there are still some areas of worry. The public is invited to read the entire report.