Sunday, July 29, 2012

Tenn. kids rank well in health, poor in education - San Francisco Chronicle

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) â€" The latest comparison by the Annie E. Casey Foundation finds Tennessee's kids are the healthiest in the South.

According to The Tennessean (http://bit.ly/nEOXw ), the annual Kids Count evaluation placed Tennessee 16th in the nation in children's well-being.

The study, however, went beyond health issues and found one in four children in Tennessee is being raised in poverty. The education ranking was a poor 42nd, based on the dropout rate, preschool attendance and performance in math and reading.

A change in the way states were evaluated helped boost the state's snapshot of children's health. The foundation dropped infant mortality and added health insurance coverage. Only 5 percent of Tennessee's children aren't insured.

The top states for children's well-being were New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont. Nevada, New Mexico and Mississippi ranked lowest.

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Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com

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