The National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) supports national efforts to improve the health and development of our children. The U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) funds and directs the NSCH, which is a household survey conducted annually by the U.S. Census Bureau. The NSCH produces national and state level data for key measures of child health and well-being, including many indicators on children’s behavioral health. These data are essential to understanding the health status and health services needs of children across the nation and in your state and community.
In 2018-2019, the NSCH found that:
- 13.2% of U.S. children ages 3-17 years (over 8 million) had a current, diagnosed mental or behavioral health condition
- Anxiety was the most common condition (8.5%), followed by behavior disorder (6.8%) and depression (3.8%)
- A greater proportion of males had a behavior disorder (9.1% vs. 4.5%), while a greater proportion of females had anxiety (9.1% vs. 8.0%) and depression (4.4% vs. 3.2%)
- Just over half (53.2%) of children ages 3-17 years with a current mental or behavioral health condition received treatment or counseling from a mental health professional in the past year – meaning that just under half did not receive any treatment.
Click on the link below to learn more about the NSCH and review data and reports from recent years.