National Survey of Early Childhood Health (NSECH)

Recent state and national surveys suggest that high levels of parent demand for information, guidance, and interventions contribute to optimal child development. CHCFC developed and analyzed the National Survey of Early Childhood Health (NSECH), a telephone survey of a national random sample of 2,068 parents of young children (age 4-35 months) that gathered information on such topics as health care utilization, parental perceptions of pediatric care, interactions with health care providers, family interactions, home safety, parental and child health, financial welfare and health insurance, and demographic and household information. First fielded in 2000, the NSECH was developed as a collaborative effort between the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities, the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau, and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Primary funding for the survey was provided by The Gerber Foundation. At that time, there were no national data focused on the health and development of young children that also examined the content and quality of health care provided to young children. The NSECH filled this important information gap by providing actionable and policy relevant data that was used by the broader child health community to actively engage early childhood systems building, program development, and practice improvement. Results from the first NSECH have been extensively disseminated and used in policy debate and program planning. NSECH has also been recognized as a unique, premier data source on early childhood – described as one of the “Big Four” – a pillar of the federal statistical system for indicators of early child health and development. Findings have influenced emerging policy debates including discussions about rethinking well-child care.

Given the national success of the NSECH I, the same group of collaborators have joined to plan for the expansion and implementation of the NSECH II. The development work to revise NSECH I to prepare NSECH II has been supported by the Gerber Foundation and we have now completed that process. The NSECH II includes a number of new modules that respond to the changing epidemiology of child health and growing recognition of specific early childhood issues and problems. These include new modules on oral health, toilet training, healthy weight, and developmental and behavioral screening.

Currently, we are aggressively pursuing funding to field NSECH II nationally, with a goal of beginning data collection in 2008-2009. Additionally, the Center plans to expand NSECH II by bringing data collection to state and local levels, and we are currently conducting active outreach to states and counties that are interested in improving the content and quality of healthcare provided to young children. Our intent is to demonstrate that the NSECH II can play a comparable role to that played by the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) for adolescents – providing essential information to state and local programs and policymakers about content, quality, and access to appropriate early childhood health services. Although many states are designing and implementing new and innovative early childhood programs, the information that is currently available often lacks the specificity that is necessary for actionable planning and program development.

For additional information, please contact Lisa Stanley, MPH.