Title: American Indian and Alaska Native Children: Findings From the Base Year of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort

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Section/SPIG: Maternal and Child Health

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This report provides descriptive information about American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) children born in the United States in 2001. It presents information on characteristics of their families, on children's mental and physical skills, on children's first experiences in child care, on the fathers of these children, and on their prenatal care. The report profiles data from a nationally representative sample of children at about 9 months of age both overall, and for various subgroups (i.e., male and female, AIAN children living in different types of families, AIAN children living in poverty). This report tells us that about one-third of AIAN children live in poverty (34 percent), about one-third live in households where the mother has less than a high school education (34 percent); three-quarters live in households with two parents, and about one in 10 (11 percent) were born to teen-aged mothers. Nonetheless, AIAN children at about 9 months of age do not perform significantly differently from the general population of children in terms of early mental and physical skills, such as exploring objects in play, babbling, eye-hand coordination and pre-walking skills. To view the full report, go to: <http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005116>.