Achieving Lifelong Health Starts with Improving Child Health and Wellbeing
Research By: Tina Cheng, MD, MPH
Post Date: March 25, 2025 | Publish Date: December 2024
A 570-page National Academies report, co-led by Tina Cheng, MD, MPH, Cincinnati Children’s, and James Perrin, MD, Harvard Medical School, provides a strategic roadmap to revolutionize the U.S. child and adolescent healthcare system
“U.S. children are not well. Increasing morbidity and mortality threaten their health and wellbeing and that of the coming adult workforce. The crisis comes in the context of decades of policies that disadvantage racially and ethnically diverse and low-income communities and have resulted in inequitable opportunities for children and disparate outcomes that start in childhood and extend into adulthood. National progress to reverse this crisis and improve long-term outcomes for all Americans will come only from a dedicated and ongoing commitment to focus on children, youth, and their families.”
This statement comes from a recently published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which emphasizes the urgent need for a committed, national focus on systemic change to better serve all children and families.
The report, “Launching Lifelong Health by Improving Health Care for Children Youth, and Families,” underscores the importance of investing in children now to secure a healthier and more prosperous future for all.
CALLS TO ACTION: TRANSFORMING CHILD HEALTHCARE
The report outlines five key strategic goals for overhauling the child and adolescent healthcare system:
- Elevate Child and Adolescent Health
- Prioritize child and adolescent health at all government levels through integrated programs and impactful policies.
- Finance Health Systems for Prevention and Promotion
- Reform Medicaid and CHIP for full coverage and adopt value-based payment models that reward prevention and .
- Strengthen Community-Level Health Promotion
- Increase funding for community health initiatives, reduce disparities, and enhance school-based health programs through local partnerships.
- Engage Families and Communities
- Co-design child-centered systems with communities and invest in a diverse, culturally competent healthcare workforce.
- Implement Measurement and Accountability
- Implement equity-focused measurement systems, enhance cross-agency collaboration, and ensure transparent health data reporting.
A VISION FOR EQUITABLE CHILD HEALTHCARE
“The United States is one of a few resource-rich countries in the world that does not entitle young children to health care, with resulting disparities and some of the lowest rates of access to preventive care and routine services among resource-rich countries,” the report states. “As a result of persistent disparities in prevention and health promotion, many U.S. cities and states report high rates of infant mortality, preventable disease outbreaks, and high costs of care for many specialty conditions. Large subsets of U.S. children face barriers to positive mental and physical health and wellbeing as a result of poverty, food insecurity, unsafe or unstable housing, neighborhood segregation, insufficient access to high-quality care, and other adverse childhood experiences.”
The report envisions a broad, cross-sector child and adolescent health care system that promotes flourishing equitably, builds on community strengths, and addresses family and community needs to create the environment that all children need to thrive.
INSPIRING CHANGE
Cheng presented highlights of the report during an hour-long Pediatric Grand Rounds event held at Cincinnati Children’s on Jan. 14. 2025
Watch a recording of the entire presentation.
She opened her presentation quoting American writer and civil rights activist, James Baldwin, whose words still resonate today: “The children are always ours. Every single one of them… We will all profit or pay for what they become.”
Noting that significant cuts have been proposed for Medicaid, Cheng said, “I think people are aware that half of U.S. children are enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP. We need to protect kids in the cuts that occur.”
Cheng framed support for Medicaid as an economic investment, reinforcing that investing in child health is investing in America’s future workforce.
“It has been shown that Medicaid enrollment during childhood increases earnings during adulthood. This is nothing new to us, but I think a lot of people do not realize that,” she said.
She called for a national coalition and public campaign under the banner, “Children First for a Prosperous America,” to reshape public and policymaker perspectives on child health.
Cheng to speak in Ottawa
Cheng will discuss the 2024 NASEM report during the opening keynote address on April 14 at the 2025 Children’s Healthcare Canada Annual Conference.
More events are in the planning stages.
ABOUT THE NASEM COMMITTEE AND REPORT
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Improving the Health and Wellbeing of Children and Youth Through Health Care System Transformation was co-chaired by Cheng and James M. Perrin, Harvard Medical School. Committee members included Louis P. Appel, People’s Community Clinic; Christina Bethell, Johns Hopkins University; Ashleigh Ficarino Bowman, University of South Alabama; Nathan T. Chomilo, University of Minnesota Medical School; Ashleigh D. Coser, Health Service Psychologist with the Cherokee Nation; Alison E. Cuellar, George Mason University; Hala H. Durrah, Patient Family Engagement Consultant; Carole R. Gresenz, Georgetown University; Kelly J. Kelleher, The Ohio State University; William Martinez, University of California, San Francisco; Philip O. Ozuah, Montefiore Einstein Medicine; Sarah A. Stoddard, University of Michigan; Lequisha S. Turner, University of Nebraska Medical Center Munroe Meyer Institute; Jennifer R. Walton, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Staff supporting the report included Julie Schuck, Study Director; Abigail Allen, Associate Program Officer; Sunia Young, Research Associate; Shaakira Parker, Associate Program Officer; Emma Moore, Senior Program Assistant.
This consensus study report “Launching Lifelong Health by Improving Health Care for Children, Youth, and Families” was sponsored by the Academic Pediatric Association, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Board of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital Association, Health Resources and Services Administration, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and The David & Lucile Packard Foundation.
Resources
- View an Interactive Site about the Consensus Study Report
- Read the Entire Consensus Study Report
- View Highlights from the Consensus Study Report
- Read more in JAMA: Child Health Care at a Crossroads—A Report From the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
| Original title: | Launching Lifelong Health by Improving Health Care for Children, Youth, and Families |
| Published in: | National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine |
| Publish date: | December 2024 |
Research By
As a child advocate, I have promoted the importance of pediatric research including initiation of the “7 Great Achievements in Pediatric Research” campaign (Pediatr Res. 2016;80(3):330-7) and have published on the “Next 7 Great Achievements in Pediatric Research” (Pediatrics. 2017;139(5):e20163803).
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The Research Horizons blog features news and insights about the latest discoveries and innovations developed by the scientists of Cincinnati Children's. This blog does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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