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Tonya Papanikolas ReportingThe annual Kids Count survey ranks Utah sixth in the nation in overall child well-being. Utah improved in six out of 10 categories.
The number of kids living in single-parent families went down, so did teen birth rates and infant mortality rates. But the state fell significantly in one category, the child poverty rate.
Organizers say when it comes to poverty, rankings don't matter.
Terry Haven, Utah Kids Count Director: "Because the reality is these children living in poverty, they really don't care how we compare to Maine. They don't care that we're better than Colorado. They care that they're going to bed hungry."
Each year, Kids Count highlights a specific topic regarding children's well-being they think has been overlooked. This year, they're focusing on what they're calling "Family, Friend and Neighbor" child care.
Almost 50-thousand kids under the age of six are in family-based child care. Some worry that many of these kids aren't being mentally stimulated.
We found kids in day care at the University of Utah's student child care center. Today the kids played outside, learned how to use streamers, and found out bubbles don't taste very good. The snacks were much better.
Lauren Aquino, Mother: "It's a really good option for me, being a student. They do a lot of fun projects and lots of art projects."
But not all families opt to put their kids in a formal day care. In Utah, manlies are taking their kids to a relative, friend or neighbor's house during the day.
Four years ago, Sal Duncan went back to work and took her kids to her mother-in-law's, who lived right up the street.
Sal Duncan, Mother: "It was convenient as fare as getting them there, but I also knew they would be with someone who loved them as much as I did."
Six-year-old Rachel says her grandma always had fun activities planned.
Rachel Duncan: "she would read me stories and work in the garden with her."
This is exactly the kind of stimulation kids need at an early age. But child development specialists worry some kids aren't getting it in home-based care.
Cheryl Wright, Family & Consumer Studies, Univ. of Utah: our biggest concern is kids are sitting, watching TV for an extended period of time."
Cheryl Wright says relatives who don't know better may not be engaging children in learning. Activities are important to a child's early development.
Cheryl Wright: "It can be simple activities, such as walking around the block, looking at trees, looking at the grass, looking at bugs."
Wright says interaction and communication with the child is also key.
Whether adults are reading to a child or giving them an environment to explore, studies show stimulating a child in these early years is crucial to their educational growth later on.
The state offers training for anyone who takes care of children.
