Health - Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Neurodevelopmental disorders are disabilities associated primarily with the functioning of the neurological system and brain. Examples of neurodevelopmental disorders in children include attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, learning disabilities, intellectual disability, conduct disorders, cerebral palsy, and impairments in vision and hearing.
On this page:
- Indicators
- About the Neurodevelopmental Disorders Indicators
- Methods
- Supplemental Data Tables
- Related Links
Indicators
Percentage of children ages 5 to 17 years reported to have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), by sex, 1997-2021 (Indicator H6)
Web update: 2023
Click to open in new window | Tips for selecting and filtering data (pdf) | Download in Excel
- Data for this indicator are obtained from an ongoing annual survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.
- Survey data are representative of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population.
- A parent or other knowledgeable adult in each sampled household is asked questions regarding the child's health status, including if they have ever been told the child has Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
- From 1997 to 2021, the proportion of children ages 5 to 17 years reported to have ever been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) increased from 6.3% in 1997 to 10.8% in 2021. The increasing trend was statistically significant for children overall, and for both boys and girls considered separately.
- In 2018–2021, 12.7% of White non-Hispanic children ages 5 to 17 years, 11.6% of Black non-Hispanic children, 11.3% of children of “All Other Races/Ethnicities,” 8.3% of Hispanic children, 6.2% of American Indian or Alaska Native non-Hispanic children, and 2.9% of Asian non-Hispanic children were reported to have ADHD. These differences were statistically significant, with two exceptions: there was no statistically significant difference between children of “All Other Races/Ethnicities” and White non-Hispanic children or Black non-Hispanic children. (See Indicator H6a.)
- In 2018–2021, 14% of children ages 5 to 17 years from families living below the poverty level were reported to have ADHD compared with 10.3% of children from families living at or above the poverty level. This difference was statistically significant. (See Indicator H6a.)
- For 2018–2021, the percentage of boys ages 5 to 17 years reported to have ADHD (14.1%) was higher than the rate for girls (7.5%). This difference was statistically significant. (See Table H6b.)
Percentage of children ages 5 to 17 years reported to have a learning disability by sex, 1997-2021 (Indicator H7)
Web update: 2023
Click to open in new window | Tips for selecting and filtering data (pdf) | Download in Excel
- Data for this indicator are obtained from an ongoing annual survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.
- Survey data are representative of the U.S. civilian non-institutionalized population.
- A parent or other knowledgeable adult in each sampled household is asked questions regarding the child's health status, including if they have ever been told the child has a learning disability.
- In 2021, 7.9% of children ages 5 to 17 years had ever been diagnosed with a learning disability. There was little change in this percentage between 1997 and 2021.
- The reported prevalence of learning disability varies by race and ethnicity. The prevalence of learning disability for Black or African-American non-Hispanic children was 9.7%, followed by American Indian or Alaska Native non-Hispanic children (9.6%), Hispanic children (8.3%), and White non-Hispanic (8.1%). By comparison, only 2.7% of Asian non-Hispanic children were reported to have a learning disability. The prevalence of learning disability reported for Asian non-Hispanic children was lower than for the remaining race/ethnicity groups, and these differences were statistically significant. (See Indicator H7a.)
- For 2018–2021, the percentage of children reported to have a learning disability was higher for children living below the poverty level (12.6%) compared with those living at or above the poverty level (7.2%), a statistically significant difference. (See Indicator H7a.)
- For 2018–2021, the percentage of boys reported to have a learning disability (10.1%) was higher than for girls (6.1%). This difference was statistically significant. (See Table H7b.)
Percentage of children ages 5 to 17 years reported to have autism, 1997-2021 (Indicator H8)
Web update: 2023
Click to open in new window | Tips for selecting and filtering data (pdf) | Download in Excel
- Data for this indicator are obtained from an ongoing annual survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.
- Survey data are representative of the U.S. civilian non-institutionalized population.
- A parent or other knowledgeable adult in each sampled household is asked questions regarding the child's health status, including if they have ever been told the child has autism. From 2011 to 2013, the term “autism” in the question was revised to “autism/autism spectrum disorder.” Starting in 2014, for consistency with an expanded definition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the term “autism” in the question was revised to “autism, Asperger's disorder, pervasive developmental disorder, or autism spectrum disorder.”
- The percentage of children ages 5 to 17 years reported to have ever been diagnosed with autism rose from 0.1% in 1997 to 1.2% in 2013. This increasing trend was statistically significant.
- Between 2014 and 2021, the rates of reported autism ranged from 2.3% to 3.7%. The higher reported percentages in these years compared with prior years might be due in part to the recent broadening of the definition of autism used in the survey question.
- The reported prevalence of autism varies by race/ethnicity. The highest prevalence of autism was for Black or African-American non-Hispanic children (3.8% in 2018-2021), followed by children of “All Other Races/Ethnicities” (3.4%), and White non-Hispanic children (3%). Autism prevalence was lower among Hispanic children (2.8%) and Asian non-Hispanic children (2.5%). (See Indicator H8a.)
- For 2018–2021, the prevalence of autism was higher for children living below the poverty level (4.2%) than those living at or above the poverty level (2.8%). This difference was statistically significant. (See Indicator H8a.)
- For 2018–2021, the rate of reported autism was about four times higher in boys than in girls, 4.6% and 1.5%, respectively. This difference was statistically significant. (See Table H8b.)
Percentage of children ages 5 to 17 years reported to have intellectual disability, 1997-2021 (Indicator H9)
Web update: 2023
Click to open in new window | Tips for selecting and filtering data (pdf) | Download in Excel
- Data for this indicator are obtained from an ongoing annual survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.
- Survey data are representative of the U.S. civilian non-institutionalized population.
- A parent or other knowledgeable adult in each sampled household is asked questions regarding the child's health status, including if they have ever been told the child has an intellectual disability.
- In 2021, 1.8% of children ages 5 to 17 years were reported to have ever been diagnosed with intellectual disability. This percentage fluctuated between 0.6% and 0.9% from 1997 to 2010, and was between 1.0% and 2.4% from 2011 to 2021. The higher reported percentages in 2011 to 2021 compared with prior years might be in part due to a revision of the survey question wording.
- In 2018–2021, the reported prevalence of intellectual disability was lowest for Asian non-Hispanic children (0.7%) and was between 1.3% and 2.8% for the other race/ethnicity groups. The differences between Asian non-Hispanic children and White non-Hispanic children or Black non-Hispanic children were statistically significant, after accounting for age, sex, and income differences. (See Indicator H9a.)
- In 2018–2021, 2.5% of children from families with incomes below the poverty level were reported to have intellectual disability, compared with 1.7% of children from families at or above the poverty level, a statistically significant difference. (See Indicator H9a.)
- In 2018–2021, the percentage of boys reported to have intellectual disability (2.3%) was higher than for girls (1.3%). This difference was statistically significant. (See Table H9b.)
About the Neurodevelopmental Disorders Indicators
Indicators H6, H7, H8, and H9 present information about children reported to have ever been diagnosed with four different neurodevelopmental disorders: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities, autism, and intellectual disability. The data are from a national survey that collects health information from a representative sample of the population each year.
Neurodevelopmental disorders are disabilities associated primarily with the functioning of the neurological system and brain. Examples of neurodevelopmental disorders in children include attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, learning disabilities, intellectual disability (also known as mental retardation), conduct disorders, cerebral palsy, and impairments in vision and hearing. Children with neurodevelopmental disorders can experience difficulties with language and speech, motor skills, behavior, memory, learning, or other neurological functions. The term “learning disability” refers to a neurological disorder that affects the way in which a child’s brain can receive, process, retain, and respond to information. The term “intellectual disability” refers to a disorder involving subaverage intellectual functioning before the age of 18, usually defined as an IQ less than 70 and impairments in life skills such as communication, self-care, home living, and social or interpersonal skills.
Several widespread environmental contaminants are associated with adverse effects on a child's developing brain and nervous system in multiple studies. The National Toxicology Program has concluded that childhood lead exposure is associated with attention-related behavioral problems (such as inattention, hyperactivity, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and increased incidence of problem behaviors (including delinquent, criminal, or antisocial behavior). EPA has determined that methylmercury is known to have neurotoxic and developmental effects in humans. A wide variety of other environmental chemicals have been identified as potential concerns for childhood neurological development based on animal studies and observational studies in humans.
Indicators H6, H7, H8, and H9 present data on neurodevelopmental disorders from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).
More information about neurodevelopmental disorders and Indicators H6, H7, H8, and H9 is provided in the Neurodevelopmental Disorders section of America's Children and the Environment, Third Edition (pdf) .
Methods - Neurodevelopmental Disorders
The National Center for Health Statistics, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conducts the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), a series of annual U.S. national surveys of the health status of the non-institutionalized civilian population. The interviews are conducted in person at the participants’ homes by asking a parent or other knowledgeable household adult questions regarding the child’s health status.
Indicators H6 and H7 use the NHIS data to present the percentage of children ages 5 to 17 years who were reported to have ADHD or learning disability, respectively, stratified by sex. Indicators H8 and H9 use the NHIS data to present the percentage of children ages 5 to 17 years who were reported to have autism or intellectual disability, respectively. For these indicators the responses to the following questions were used:
- “Has a doctor or health professional ever told you that <child’s name> had Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)?”,
- “Has a representative from a school or a health professional ever told you that <child’s name> had a learning disability?”,
- “Has a doctor or health professional ever told you that <child’s name> had Autism?”,
- “Has a doctor or health professional ever told you that <child’s name> had Mental Retardation?”
Starting in 2011, the survey question for mental retardation changed to “Has a doctor or health professional ever told you that had an intellectual disability, also known as mental retardation?"
- Detailed Methods for Indicators H6, H7, H8, and H9 (pdf)
- Metadata for National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
Supplemental Data Tables
The following data tables are available to view and export for analysis and visualization. Right click the table for exporting options.
H7b. Percentage of children reported to have a learning disability, by age and sex, 2018-2021
H8b. Percentage of children reported to have autism, by age and sex, 2018-2021
H9b. Percentage of children reported to have intellectual disability, by age , 2018-2021
Related Links
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Increasing Prevalence of Parent-Reported Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Among Children - United States 2003 and 2007
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders - Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 14 Sites, United States, 2008
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): Autism Spectrum Disorders (Pervasive Developmental Disorders)
- National Toxicology Program (NTP): Health Effects of Low-Level Lead Evaluation
- U.S. EPA: Lead
- U.S. EPA: Mercury