The rate of child deaths in the United States is climbing and America has the highest rate of youth mortality in the world.
Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University examined CDC mortality data for the US and data from the Human Mortality Database (HMD) of 16 ‘comparison countries’ between 1999 to 2019 – and 2020 to 2022 where available.
They included deaths of children from younger than one years old to 19 years old.
The study found between 1999 and 2019 there was an excess of 413,950 deaths in the US of kids aged zero to 19 years old – an average of 19,710 deaths per year and the highest among the countries included.
And deaths among 10- to 19-year-olds rose nearly 10 percent from 2009 to 2019.
Researchers attributed America’s higher death rates to easier access to guns and the rise in the use of illicit drugs like opioids.
The above shows the youth mortality rate for 10- to 14-year-olds in the US (orange line) compared to 16 countries (gray lines) and the average of those countries (dark blue line)
The above shows the youth mortality rate for 15- to 19-year-olds in the US (orange line) compared to 16 countries (gray lines) and the average of those countries (dark blue line)
The researchers also concluded that each year during the study period, nearly 20,000 excess youth deaths would not have occurred if the US experienced the average death rate of the 16 comparison countries.
More than half of these excess deaths involved infants, reflecting the disproportionately high US infant mortality rates.
Excess deaths were calculated by multiplying the difference between US mortality rates and the average mortality rate of the comparison countries by US population.
The comparison countries included: Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
The majority of the excess deaths were among infants – 57 percent.
Separate figures from the National Center for Health Statistics showed America’s infant mortality rose in 2022 for the first time in more than two decades. In 2021, there were 19,930 infant deaths and in 2022 there were 20,540.
Overall, the all-cause infant mortality rate rose from 5.44 infant deaths per 1,000 births to 5.6 infant deaths per 1,000 births — the first year-over-year increase in the rate since 2001 to 2002.
Following infants, the 2024 study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, found 15- to 19-year-olds accounted for 26 percent of excess deaths.
The graph shows how each country of the G7, an informal grouping of seven of the world’s advanced economies, fared in international life expectancy rankings each year from 1950 to 2020. The US plummeted from 13th place to 53rd place
Those in the age groups one to four, five to nine and 10 to 14 made up smaller percentages – ranging from four percent to 7.5 percent.
The age group that saw the largest increase from 2009 to 2019 was kids between 10 years old and 19 years old – rising from 27.5 percent to 36 percent.
And males accounted for the majority of excess deaths at 61 percent.
Boys experienced higher rates of deadly injuries and suicides, homicides and fatal drug overdoses were also top contributors to overall excess deaths. Researchers attributed this to easier access to guns and rise in the use of opioids.
While the researchers did not specify death rates for each country, the overall trend among the comparable nations has been on the decline since 1999. While it was also on the decline in the US, around 2009 the death rate for 10-to 14-year-olds began increasing.
And the rate for kids aged 15 to 19 began increasing around 2013.
According to the Children’s Hospital Association, between 2016 and 2022, children’s hospitals in the US saw a 166 percent increase in visits for suicide attempts and self-injury among children five to 18 years old.
Nearly 2million adolescents attempt suicide each year and among child deaths, approximately 25 percent are by suicide, making it the second leading cause of death for children.
CDC data shows youth suicide increased 62 percent from 2007 to 2021.
Experts attribute the rise to mental health struggles as half of US adolescents have reported suffering from a mental health disorder at some point in their lives, such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders, according to the Office of Population Affairs.
Concerning guns, firearm deaths in the US have increased and America has the highest rate of child and teen gun mortality.
From 2012 to 2022, nearly 19,700 children ages 17 and younger died by firearm, CDC data shows.
And while gun-related child deaths dipped from 2017 to 2019, they rose sharply at the start of the pandemic through 2022 – increasing from 2.4 per 100,000 kids under 17 in 2019 to 3.5 per 100,000 in 2022.
Most gun deaths stem from gun assaults.
As for drugs, the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics found there was a 61 percent increase in drug use among eighth graders between 2016 and 2020 and half of teens have misused a drug at least once.
Deaths from overdoses among teens had been steadily rising from 1999 but fell in 2018. However, in 2019, they rose again to 4,780.
And opioids accounted for most of those deaths – 3,725.
Public health experts and officials have said the opioid epidemic in the US is a national health emergency as more potent and deadly substances infiltrate the drug market and lead to fatal overdoses.
