QuickStats: Percentage of Children Aged 5--17 Years Ever Receiving a Diagnosis of Learning Disability,* by Race/Ethnicity† and Family Income Group§ --- National Health Interview Survey,¶ United States, 2007--2009

Weekly

* Based on parental response to the following question: "Has a representative from a school or a health professional ever told you that [child] had a learning disability?"

† White and black children are non-Hispanic children with a single race reported. Hispanic children might be of any race.

§ Family income group is based on family income and family size using the U.S. Census Bureau poverty thresholds. Family income was imputed when information was missing, using multiple imputation methodology.

¶ Estimates were based on household interviews of a sample of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population. Denominators for each category exclude persons for whom data were missing.

** 95% confidence interval.

During 2007--2009, among children with family incomes <100% of the poverty level, non-Hispanic white children (16%) and non-Hispanic black children (13%) were more likely to have ever received a diagnosis of learning disability than Hispanic children (9%). Among those with family income 100%--199% of the poverty level, the percentage with a learning disability was higher for non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black children (both 12%) than for Hispanic children (8%). Among children with family income ≥200% of the poverty level, non-Hispanic white children (8%) were more likely to have been diagnosed with learning disability than Hispanic children (5%). For children in all three racial/ethnic groups, the percentage of children ever receiving a diagnosis of learning disability decreased as family income increased.

Sources: CDC. Health Data Interactive. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hdi.htm.

National Health Interview Survey 2007--2009 data. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis.htm.

Alternate Text: The figure above shows the percentage of children aged 5-17 years ever receiving a diagnosis of learning disability, by race/ethnicity and family income group in the United States during 2007-2009. Among children with family incomes <100% of the poverty level, non-Hispanic white children (16%) and non-Hispanic black children (13%) were more likely to have ever received a diagnosis of learning disability than Hispanic children (9%). For all three racial/ethnic groups, the percentage of children ever receiving a diagnosis of learning disability decreased as family income increased.

QuickStats: Percentage of Children Aged 5--17 Years Ever Receiving a Diagnosis of Learning Disability,* by Race/Ethnicity† and Family Income Group§ --- National Health Interview Survey,¶ United States, 2007--2009July 1, 2011 / 60(25);853