Excerpt:

Asserting that “the gravity of censorship cannot be underestimated, especially considering the distressing state of American children’s health,” CHD’s letter highlighted a number of critical data points and studies, including:

• Since the 1970s and particularly since the early 1990s, the number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder has increased exponentially. Autism now affects 1 in 36 American children, up from 2–4 cases per 10,000 children in the 1970s (Lotter, 1966; Rutter, 2005; Treffett, 1970).
• A national study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 2010 zeroed in on the deterioration of children’s health over time. From 1988 to 2006, there was a doubling in prevalence of four types of chronic conditions (obesity, asthma, behavior/learning problems and “other” physical conditions), rising from 12.8% to 26.6% of American children and youth.
• A 2011 Academic Pediatrics study “estimated 43% of U.S. children (32 million) currently have at least 1 of 20 chronic health conditions assessed, increasing to 54.1% when overweight, obesity or being at risk for developmental delays are included.”
• 1 in 6 American children ages 2-8 suffer from a developmental disorder. 1 in 10 from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), 1 in 12 from asthma, 1 in 13 from food allergies, and 1 in 285 children will be diagnosed with cancer before the age of 20.
• “In 2020–21, the number of students ages 3–21 who received special education and/or related services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Pub. L. 101-476) was 7.3 million, or the equivalent of 15 percent of all public school students. Among students receiving special education and/or services, the most common category of disability was specific learning disabilities (32 percent).”

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Read the letter and report here.