Children in the United States at every age are dying at higher rates than their peers in other high-income countries, according to a new study from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The study findings will be presented during the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2026 meeting, taking place April 24-27 in Boston.
The study found that the US mortality disadvantage emerged among older teens as early as 1952 and has continued for more than five decades. While both the US and peer countries made dramatic gains in the 20th century, peer countries recovered at a faster pace – especially in the postwar decades. By 2023, the gap was largest among 15 to 19-year-olds, with males in this age group accounting for nearly a third of excess child deaths in the US. Between 1975 and 2023, nearly 800,000 more children died in the US than peer countries – equivalent to about 45 additional child deaths per day. The findings point to prevention of adolescent injury, violence and self-harm, as well as maternal and child health support, as high-priority policy goals.
We found that the child mortality disadvantage in the US has persisted for decades and is now increasingly concentrated among older adolescents, especially males. “These findings highlight the urgent need to address preventable causes of death – particularly injury, violence and self-harm – where the US continues to lag behind its peers.”
Lauren J. Koenigsberg, program manager at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and lead author of the study.
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia previously reported that the childhood mortality rate in the United States is 80% higher than in 18 peer countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD18) (Forrest et al, JAMA, 2025). The current study extends that work by examining when this gap first emerged, how durable it has been over nearly nine decades, and which age and gender groups have contributed the most.
Additional information is included in the research summary below. The PAS meeting connects thousands of leading pediatric researchers, physicians and educators from around the world. See the full schedule in the PAS 2026 Program Guide.
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