When it comes to several different measures of overall well-being, a new report shows West Virginia’s children rank 44th nationally.
But there are some important improvements, particularly in the health category where this year’s data shows the state ranks 35th. That’s up four places from last year’s report in the Kids Count Data Book, an annual 50-state report developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation to analyze how children are doing in post-pandemic America.
The most recent data available is from 2022 and indicates improvements in the number of children covered by health insurance, considered obese and the number of deaths among children and teens.
The same assessment shows an increase in the number of low birth-weight babies.
Other categories included in the overall ranking are economic development, education, family and community.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.