Prevalance of Mental Health Disorders in Children, Teens Must Be Addressed With Urgency

A Pediatrics commentary, “The Epidemic Rates of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Disorders Require an Urgent Response,” calls for action in response to a new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that documents high rates of mental health disorders before the pandemic. The commentary is being pre-published online in Pediatrics at 1 p.m. ET Feb. 24, when the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) is released online. Even very young children experience mental health disorders, according to CDC findings, and 40% percent of all children will meet the criteria of a mental health disorder by age 18. Despite high rates of mental health conditions, the MMWR documents low rates of treatment (about 11.4% annually for White, 9.8% for Black, and 8.7% for LatinX children). The commentary authors emphasize the need to examine harmful impacts of childhood trauma and adversity and structural racism. They seek more attention to contributing factors such as household income support, housing and nutrition to help lower rates of health conditions, and call for specific preventive interventions to protect children and adolescents from these harms. The authors urge the development of a robust public health surveillance infrastructure that tracks resilience and mental well-being, in addition to prevalence of mental health conditions and access to care. The MMWR report can be found here: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/su/su7102a1.htm?s_cid=su7102a1_w