US kids live in the richest country in the world. They’re dying at greater rates than other high-income countries

NewsHealthUS kids live in the richest country in the world. They’re dying at greater rates than other high-income countriesGun violence and self-harm are partly behind this dire statisticJulia Musto in New York Friday 24 April 2026 21:26 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2964541","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/us-children-excess-deaths-rate-b2964541.html","title":"Efforts to prevent child deaths in the US have fallen behind other wealthy countries"}}CloseAZ child deaths: Lawmaker says system failed kidsSign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in healthGet our free Health Check emailGet our free Health Check emailEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_Health_Newsletter","regTitle":"Health Check","subscriptionGroup":"health","subscriptionGroupId":"a476a40b-80d6-475e-83ee-36e2c8c6dcb9","type":"health","pathPrefix":["/news/health","/news/science"],"associatedAuthors":["Rebecca Thomas"],"title":"Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health","mobileTitle":"Get our free Health Check email","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/healthCheck1_1.png","description":"Behind the headline review on the week in health","label":"I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email","newsletterKey":"receiveIndyHealthNews","regSourceSection":"Health","regSourceMethod":"NSCs"},"isClimate":false}Efforts to prevent child deaths in America have fallen far behind other wealthy countries, a decades-long...