wfn.org | Report holds good news, bad news about U.S. children

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

July 28, 1998	Contact: Thomas S. McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville,
Tenn.      {447}

By United Methodist News Service

There's good news and bad news regarding the well-being of children in
the United States, according to a United Methodist bishop who is leading
a churchwide initiative on children and poverty.

Reacting to a report issued July 15 by the Federal Interagency Forum on
Child and Family Statistics, Bishop Marshall L. (Jack) Meadors Jr. of
Jackson, Miss., said he is "heartened" to know that children from
infancy through adolescence are off to a healthier start in many ways.  

More children are surviving their first year of life, according to the
report, and infant mortality is at an all-time low. Seventy-seven
percent of toddlers are up to date on their immunizations.

The report also indicates that in the past 20 years the percentage of
pre-school children with high levels of lead in their blood has dropped
from 88 percent to 6 percent. This public health success is attributed
to aggressive legislative action banning lead in paint and plumbing
supplies, and  phasing it out in gasoline.

But all the news isn't good.  The number of children without health
insurance increased in 1996 to 10.6 million, up from 9.8 million in
1995.

During this decade, the percentages of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders
who smoked daily, drank heavily and used illicit drugs increased.
Twenty-five percent of 12th-graders smoke on a regular basis.

Meadors also pointed to a study released July 9 by the New York-based
National Center for Children and Poverty showing that 5.5 million U.S.
children are living in poverty, up 12 percent since 1992. The bishop
noted that one doctor involved in the study observed, "The United States
has the western world's richest children and its poorest children."

"These studies are reminders of the promises and challenges confronting
our nation's children and youth," Meadors said. "They are cause for
celebration. They are a call to renewed commitment to ministry with
children and the impoverished."

Meadors heads a task force guiding a churchwide initiative on children
and poverty that was launched by the Council of Bishops in 1996. At each
of their semi-annual meetings, the global church leaders report what is
happening in their areas related to the initiative.

Meadors cited numerous examples of United Methodists responding to
children's needs, including Warren Village in Denver, which addresses
such family needs as housing, education, childcare and employment; The
Gathering Place in Lincoln, Neb., a community center serving the needs
of the homeless; and Methodist Healthcare of Memphis, a partnership
directed toward both urban and rural women and children.

"Thank God for the successes," the bishop said. "They indicate what can
be done for children when there is vision, will, courage to act."

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United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/