tailieunhanh - Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs

The efficacy of health and nutrition interventions in develop- ing countries has been established for decades (for example, Gwatkin, Wilcox, and Wray 1980). Prospective studies in sev- eral settings showed that health interventions with or without supplementary foods caused children to thrive and survive better: studies in Narangwal, India (Kielmann and others 1978; Taylor, Kielmann, and Parker 1978); by the Institute for Nutrition for Central America and Panama (Delgado and others 1982); in Jamaica (Waterlow 1992); and in The Gambia (Whitehead, Rowland, and Cole 1976) are examples. 2 These studies showed the effect of interventions on growth and (usu- ally) mortality but did not generally factor out the relative con- tributions of health and. | Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs c Vi Aj From the Campaign for Children s Health Care April 2007 A significant number of America s children have special health care needs. These children suffer from chronic conditions and require more health care services than other children for example more doctor visits specialized treatments prescription drugs and mental health services . Many of them are underinsured or have no health coverage at all which may mean that their additional needs pose an extreme economic burden for their families and a sizable barrier to their healthy development. Who Are Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs Children with special health care needs are defined as children who have or are at increased risk for a chronic physical developmental behavioral or emotional condition and who also require health and related services of a type or amount beyond that required by children generally. 1 One in five households with children in the United States includes at least one child with special health care Nationwide more than million children percent of all children under the age of 18 have special health care Children with special health care needs have a wide range of chronic illnesses disabilities or emotional or behavioral health problems such as severe asthma autism ADHD cerebral palsy cystic fibrosis diabetes Down syndrome mental retardation sensory impairments sickle cell anemia and spina bifida. Families in every demographic group including all income levels and ethnicities have children with special health care needs. Families without health insurance are sometimes unable to obtain the health care services their children need. For example nearly half of all uninsured children with special health care needs reported that they did not receive the care they needed 29 percent lacked needed dental care and 14 percent lacked needed mental health services. Furthermore 15 percent of uninsured children