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Kidsdata.org: We’ve got your numbers

Comprehensive website provides clearinghouse of data on health, well being of Bay Area kids

PALO ALTO – Starting today, parents, policymakers, health professionals, educators and media around the Bay Area can tap into a free, powerful database of information about children’s health and well being.

The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health has expanded www.kidsdata.org, its children’s health database, so that it now includes Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin and San Francisco counties, along with previously featured Santa Clara and San Mateo counties and statewide comparisons.

Kidsdata.org is a wide-ranging clearinghouse of information on more than 250 separate measures of children’s health and well-being, documenting issues ranging from academic pressure to weight. The site includes data, survey results, listings of local resources, and links to related websites, along with a “reading room” of news stories and research studies on key issues. All the data are drawn from widely accepted public sources.

“Given the complexity of issues surrounding children’s health, it’s vital that related decisions be based on data that are reliable, current and local,” said David Alexander, MD, the foundation’s president and CEO. “Kidsdata.org brings together a multitude of issues in one convenient site. We hope it will be used to identify and draw attention to the most pressing issues in children’s health, and will inform policies designed to address those issues.”

The site also is valuable for grantseekers who need timely data, and for individuals wishing to educate themselves on issues, Alexander noted.

Kidsdata.org users can view information by region, demographic group or topic. The site offers summaries of data for the hundreds of cities and school districts in the Bay Area, and provides local data profiles for nearly 20 demographic groups. The site also features multiple ways to display and compare data.

“We’ve made the site easily accessible by using the most up-to-date, user-friendly technology, including the ability to overlay data on Google maps,” Alexander said. “This mapping feature offers a bird’s-eye view of a specific area and visually shows the incidence of a given health issue for that region.”

The site has been recognized by the Webby Awards committee, which twice has named kidsdata.org one of five national finalists in its family/parenting category.

For more information and to use the free site, log on to www.kidsdata.org.

Kidsdata is a program of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, which is a public charity devoted exclusively to promoting, protecting and sustaining the health and well-being of children. For more information on the foundation, see www.lpfch.org.