Table 1
Percentage of Children Ages 5 to 17 Reported to Have at Least One Limitation,1 1998-2004
  1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Total 17.5 16.6 17.2 18.4 18.1 17.0 19.7
   
Gender  
Male 20.4 20.9 21.0 22.6 21.6 20.5 23.6
Female 14.5 12.1 13.3 14.0 14.5 13.5 15.6
   
Age group  
Ages 5-11 15.8 14.9 15.5 16.1 16.5 15.5 17.1
Ages 12-17 19.6 18.7 19.3 21.0 20.1 18.8 22.7
   
Race and Hispanic origin2  
White, non-Hispanic 18.3 17.5 18.7 19.7 19.5 18.2 21.5
Black, non-Hispanic 18.9 17.5 16.9 18.5 19.4 18.0 20.1
Hispanic 14.5 13.1 13.3 14.4 14.3 13.8 15.2
Non-Hispanic Other 10.2 12.4 10.2 13.0 8.4 10.0 13.4
   
Poverty Status  
At or above poverty 17.1 16.6 17.8 18.7 17.9 17.4 19.4
Below poverty 23.7 23.7 21.8 24.8 27.3 21.7 24.4
   
Family Structure3  
2 parents with biological/adoptive child(ren) only - 13.2 14.6 15.3 -    
Parent, step-parent and child(ren) only - 22.2 20.6 21.2 -  
Single parent and biological or non-biological child(ren) only - 22.0 22.7 23.6 -    
Extended family, including one or more parents - 16.7 17.3 20.1 -  
   
Parental Education3  
Some high school or less 19.1 18.5 19.3 19.1 19.9 17.5 20.3
High school graduate/ GED or equivalent recipient 18.3 17.4 19.6 19.4 21.8 17.4 21.2
Some college, no degree/AA degree 19.2 18.3 18.4 20.2 19.1 18.9 21.8
Bachelor's degree or higher  13.8 12.9 13.4 15.1 13.1 14.0 15.8
   
Insurance Coverage4  
Private insurance 15.1 14.4 15.0 16.2 16.1 14.8 18.1
Public insurance5 30.1 27.2 27.6 29.1 25.3 24.7 25.6
Not insured 17.4 16.6 16.9 17.0 17.2 18.5 17.1
   
Usual source of health care6  
No usual source 17.4 17.1 16.9 17.8 20.0 16.9 16.6
Usual source 17.5 16.6 17.3 18.4 18.0 17.1 19.9
   
Welfare/TANF   
At least one family member received income from welfare/TANF 27.1 29.9 29.6 30.6 30.5 33.9 30.7
No one in family received income from welfare/TANF 16.7 15.6 16.5 17.6 17.5 16.3 19.3
   
Food Stamps  
At least one family member eligible to receive food stamps 26.6 26.5 25.5 31.3 27.1 27.4 26.4
No one in family eligible to receive food stamps 16.2 15.3 16.2 16.8 16.9 15.6 18.8
   
1 A child is defined as having a limitation if the child exhibits at least one of the following limitations: difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses or contact lenses; difficulty hearing without a hearing aid; an impairment or health problem that limits his or her ability to crawl, walk, run or play; has been identified by a school representative or health professional as having a learning disability; has been identified by a school representative or health professional as having ADD/ADHD; or needs the help of other persons with bathing or showering. This list of characteristics is not intended to be exhaustive of all limitations that should be included in the concept of childhood limitation, which may include a variety of chronic health conditions, impairments, developmental delays, and functional limitations. It is, instead, an operational definition that allows researchers to capture the largest group of children with any sort of limitation while using a limited set of identifying questions.  For more information, see Hogan, Dennis P. and Thomas Wells.  2002.  "Developing Concise Measures of Childhood Limitations."  Unpublished manuscript, Brown University.   
2Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.  
3 Family structure data for 1998 are incompatible with later data and are therefore not included.  
3 Parental education reflects the education level of the most educated parent in the child's household.  
4Children with both public and private insurance are placed in the private insurance category.  
5As defined here, public health insurance for children consists mostly of MEDICAID or other public assistance programs, including State plans. It does not include children with only Medicare or the Civilian Health and Medical Care Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS/CHAMP-VA/Tricare).  
6Excludes emergency rooms as a usual source of care.
 
Source: Original analysis by Child Trends of National Health Interview Survey data 1998-2004.