Federal Research Investments in Whole Child Health and Wellbeing

Alarming statistics reveal persistent challenges to the healthy development and wellbeing of our children and youth. Many face physical, mental, and social health problems, academic underachievement, and rising rates of violence and hopelessness, leading to failure to fulfill their full potential and thus hampering the growth of the nation's prosperity now and in the future. The U.S. continues to rank low among developed nations in measures of child wellbeing, including high rates of infant mortality, chronic illness, and unmet basic needs. These issues threaten not only the health of our children but also the nation’s future workforce, resilience, and prosperity.

Fortunately, we now have the knowledge based on years of largely NIH-supported scientific research about what children and youth need for healthy development. We also have a better understanding of conditions that can undermine children’s ability to thrive and flourish, and the potential for positive experiences to override the impacts of those adversities. These scientific advancements have led to development of numerous evidence-based strategies that promote children’s health and wellbeing by fostering strong families, quality education, accessible health care, and supportive environments.

The challenge now—in addition to ongoing research to elucidate malleable mechanisms and drivers—is to determine best practices for integrating effective practices, programs and policies into our educational, social, health, economic, and physical exosystems across our nation’s communities. Through further investment in a pragmatic program of research at NIH focused on determining best practices in implementation and dissemination protocols, there is potential to improve children’s wellbeing and support family- and child-focused programs and services. Advancing comprehensive, child health research by focusing on the whole child—considering the full range of experiences and conditions that impact health—will lead to significant advances in our ability to offer every child the opportunity to flourish and succeed throughout life.

The DOC Committee is leading a national research and policy agenda to foster whole child health and wellbeing. In addition to members of the Committee, the webinar features leadership from NIH and other child health experts who will discuss innovative and evidence-based approaches for nurturing the physical, mental, behavioral, and relational health of our children. They will discuss the latest data, ongoing studies, and real-world stories illustrating why robust support for whole child health research, policies, and child- and family-serving systems are vital to our future.

This full-day webinar was organized by the Decade of the Child (DOC) Committee and sponsored by the Nova Institute for Health, the National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives, The Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Penn State University, and the Department of Maternal and Child Health, Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina.