Research finds that the health of American kids has increasingly deteriorated over past two decades

The health of U.S. children has deteriorated over the past 17 years, with kids today more likely to have obesity, chronic diseases, and mental health problems like depression, a new study says.

Much of what researchers found was already known, but the study paints a comprehensive picture by examining various aspects of children’s physical and mental health at the same time.

“The surprising part of the study wasn’t any with any single statistic; it was that there’s 170 indicators, eight data sources, all showing the same thing: a generalized decline in kids’ health,” said Dr. Christopher Forrest, one of the authors of the study published on July 7 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has brought children’s health to the forefront of t