The finding comes from the latest release of the Child Well-Being Index, a project supported by the Foundation for Child Development and coordinated by Kenneth C. Land, Ph.D., of Duke University. Land delivered a mix of good and bad news at the briefing on June 6.

The rate of children with "very good or excellent health" increased and the mortality rate for children ages 1 to 19 decreased between 2000 and 2001, says Land. Smoking and drinking by 12th graders and the teenage birth rate also declined during this time.

But rates of low birth weights, drug use and children who had limitations on their physical activity increased from 2000 to 2001, leading to an overall drop in health indicators within the Child Well-Being Index's 2001 report card.

The downturn in 2001 runs contrary to most of the yearly health trends in the index since 1975 — but only if obesity is left out of the picture. With obesity included, overall children's health improves slightly between 1975 and 1991, and then begins a steady decline, says Land.

The briefing was sponsored by the Federation of Behavioral, Psychological and Cognitive Sciences. To read more about the Child Well-Being Index, go to here.