Montana Children: the Healthy, the Needy, and the Sad

By Amy Linn, 11-16-09

Every year, the Annie E. Casey Foundation spearheads a comprehensive and important look at the well-being of the nation’s children, taking into account, state-by-state, the many variables that support their health. The “Kids Counts” reports look at dozens of indicators—from poverty rates and family habits to obesity, school performance, daycare options, neighborhood safety, and medical care—before ranking the states to show which are doing the best jobs.

So how does Montana add up? As in other years, the Casey Foundation’s 2009 Montana Kids Count Data Book gives reason to celebrate—and worry.

Overall, Montana parents report that their children are healthy. But Montana also “holds the highest rate in the country for children who have missed 11 days of school or more due to illness during the past month, [begging] the question of whether Montana children really are as healthy as their parents think,” the report states.

Lack of health care could be another factor. The absenteeism, the report notes, might be related to the fact that the state “is in the bottom five in terms of uninsured children (13 percent, versus 9 percent nationally).”

In addition, Montana’s working families have relatively high poverty rates and are in serious need of more child care providers, the report says.

Here are other highlights from the 2009 Montana Kids Count Data Book, published by the University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research:

-- Montana this year ranked 30th out of the 50 states, a downward slip from last year (when it ranked 29th) and from its highpoint, 2002 (when it ranked 21st). This year, New Hampshire won first-place as the best state for children, followed by Minnesota, Utah, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Mississippi ranked the worst, preceded by Louisiana (49th) and Alabama (48th).

-- More Montana kids “have mothers and fathers who are in good mental and physical health,” who read to them, tell them stories, and take them on outings. In addition, more Montana families eat a meal together and enjoy safe neighborhoods and schools, according to the report’s National Survey of Children’s Health.

—On average, Montana children are at healthier weights than other children. Only 26 percent of 10-to-17-year-olds in Montana are overweight or obese, compared to 32 percent nationally. Montana kids are also more physically active and spend less time staring at TVs, video games, and other screens.

But the state has a long way to go before it can catch up to the nation’s leaders for childhood well-being. Among the obstacles:

-- More than 68,000 Montana children under age 8 live in families where the adults work outside the home. Yet Montana has only 1,200 registered and licensed early care and education programs, which accommodate only 20,000 kids.

-- Twenty one percent of children under 18 are in families that live below the federal poverty line, up from 17 percent in 2000. Eight percent live in extreme poverty—double the percentage in 2000.

-- Only 64 percent of Montana kids had preventive care visits to the dentist and doctor in the past year—“well below the national average of 72 percent.”

-- Between 2006 and 2008, reading proficiency for American Indian children in Montana dropped from 60 percent to 56 percent. Fourth grade white children, by comparison, increased their proficiency in that time period from 83 percent to 85 percent.

-- A more alarming number is what one might call the “depression gap.” In 2008, as many as 51 percent of American Indian students felt “sad or depressed on most days during past year.” By comparison, 38 percent of non-Indian students felt that way.

To read the Montana Kids Count report in full, click here.