National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH)

Access the newest data brief and publications

Trends in Mental, Behavioral, and Developmental Disorders Among Children and Adolescents in the US, 2016–2021

Adolescent Mental and Behavioral Health, 2023 (PDF - 91 KB)

Find our other NSCH data briefs through the National Library of Medicine Bookshelf.

Browse our MCHB-authored publications that use the NSCH data.

Analyze the Title V MCH Block Grant measures.

Data users can access the 2016 – 2023 SAS and STATA Code Available for Title V MCH Block Grant Measures. The pooled 2016 – 2023 SAS and STATA code is available for those interested in analyzing the new Title V MCH Block Grant measures informed by the NSCH. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please contact us at NSCH@hrsa.gov.

Get the newest data and resources.

The datasets are released annually on Child Health Day. The newest dataset is the 2023 dataset.

Attention

Historically enhanced 2016-2020 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) data files were released in April 2024 and are available on the NSCH datasets page. This data release is a continuation of the improvements that were made to the 2021 NSCH data set released in October 2023. These revised datasets should be used when combining or comparing with all years of the NSCH, including 2022 and 2023. Please read the weighting revisions technical document (PDF - 401 KB).

  • What is the NSCH?

Watch this video to learn about the NSCH and its value to our Nation.

The NSCH supports national efforts to improve the health and development of our children. We fund and direct the NSCH. The U.S. Census Bureau conducts this household survey each year. The survey provides national and state level data for key measures of child health and well-being. These data are essential to understanding the health status and health services needs of children across the nation and in your state and community.

Data briefs

Survey resources

Archived surveys

Our partner, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), houses surveys and survey data we used prior to the 2016 NSCH redesign:

NSCH in the broader context

The NSCH supports national efforts to improve the health and development of our children.

The data are publicly available through the Data Resource Center for Child & Adolescent Health, a project of the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative. This resource center provides access through an online interactive data query.

The Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Block Grant uses the NSCH to inform many of their national outcome and performance measures that track the health and well-being of children. The survey provides data for 29 Title V national outcome and performance measures.

The Maternal and Child Health Jurisdictional Survey (MCH-JS) (PDF - 646 KB) is a new effort to provide information on the health and well-being of mothers and children in eight United States-affiliated jurisdictions. We based the survey on the NSCH, and then included questions on the health of mothers too. The survey provides data for 24 Title V national outcome and performance measures, previously unavailable for the jurisdictions.

Healthy People 2030 — an initiative that sets data-driven national objectives to improve the health and well-being over the next decade — also uses the NSCH to inform 15 of their objectives.

The National Survey of Children’s Health-Longitudinal Cohort is an extension of the annual NSCH. It collects information about the health and well-being of children and young adults in the United States.

Contact us

Need more information, or have a specific question? Contact us at NSCH@hrsa.gov.

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