Washington, DC— Testifying before the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, the President of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) today urged the Commission to maintain funding for critical public health programs for children and adolescents, and emphasized the economic value of early investment in the next generation.

“AAP urges the Commission to abide by a ‘Do No Harm’ pledge when it comes to our Nation’s children,” said Judith S. Palfrey, MD, FAAP. “Despite recent gains, the United States continues to spend less on our children’s health, education, and general welfare than most other developed nations in the world.”

Of the world’s richest twenty-one nations, the United States comes in last in terms of overall health and safety of its children. Indicators such as child health at birth, child immunization rates for children aged 12 to 23 months, and deaths from accidents or injuries among people aged 0 to 19 years are factored. Babies born in the United States today are less likely to survive until their first birthday than those in 27 other industrialized nations. One in 11 high school students reports attempting suicide.

“Efforts currently underway in the Federal Fiscal Year 2011 budget process to trim close to $7 billion in nondefense discretionary spending will have a negative impact on such critical public health programs as the Section 317 Immunization Program for children, universal newborn hearing screening, prematurity prevention, and school-based health initiatives to name just a few,” said Dr. Palfrey. “I urge the Commission not to embrace this trend that further handicaps our efforts to invest in children.”

Dr. Palfrey emphasized that strong financial investments in early childhood education, children’s health care, and prevention programs made today will pay extraordinary dividends in years to come, and sustained investments over time – uninterrupted – will regularly compound the benefits of earlier investments and reduce overall health care costs. Investments made in our children’s health today will directly reduce medical costs in their senior years.

“By focusing on the needs of our children, we ensure the United States can compete in the global marketplace. Investments made in our children to improve graduation rates, prioritize parenting and health education, and devote resources to early brain and child development yield very high returns for the American economy,” concluded Dr. Palfrey. “As you work to save and restructure federal programs for America’s aging populations, please consider how your actions are directly tied to her youngest.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org.