SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is the sixth-best state in the country for child well-being, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a children's advocacy group.

The Baltimore-headquartered foundation's annual report, called the Kids Count Data Book, scores each state on four major metrics: economic well-being, family and community, education, and health.

Most statistics the report used are from 2016, the latest year for which most data was available across all states, though a few categories used 2017 numbers.

The Beehive State ranked first nationally in the family and community measure, which tracked the percentage of children in single-parent families, the teenage birth rate, the proportion of youth living in high poverty areas, and minors living in homes where the head of the household does not have a diploma.

"(The findings are) really kind of a reflection on that fact that we have a relatively low percentage of children living in poverty in general," said Terry Haven, deputy director of advocacy group Voices for Utah Children.

Just 19 percent of Utah children were in single-parent families in 2016, a little more than half the national average of 35 percent. There were 16 teen births per 1,000 youth, compared to 28 such births in Utah in 2010.

"Teen births, we've improved substantially," Haven said.

Utah has ranked consistently in the top 10 in overall child well-being for several years, according to Haven. The state's overall ranking is one higher than last year, she said.

"It's a great ranking. I think we've got some reasons to be proud."

Still, Haven said, "the one indicator area that really concerns us is the health domain," where Utah ranks 19th, its worst score. "I think our health area is the one that really needs some work."

An important part of the health metric is the percentage of children without health insurance, which was 6 percent in Utah in 2016, compared to 4 percent nationwide. Still, that number was down from 11 percent in Utah in 2010.

"With the Hispanic children, we are the highest in the nation in terms of uninsured kids" at 17 percent, Haven said.

Courtney Bullard, education and collaborations director for the Utah Health Policy Project, an insurance enrollment service and advocacy group, said just two states that ranked ahead of Utah in children's health were among the 18 states that had not expanded Medicaid as of 2016.

"If we start expanding Medicaid and get parents insured, we believe (more kids will) get insured as well," Bullard said.

A ballot initiative seeking full Medicaid eligibility expansion will be put before Utah voters in November. A less extensive form of Medicaid eligibility expansion was also passed by the Utah Legislature earlier this year. Both are subject to approval by the federal government.

Besides negative financial consequences for children without health insurance, Bullard said, not having insurance has been linked to them having poorer health as well. That's because people without insurance typically "are not consistently doing prevention" care, she said.

"They won't go in for smaller problems, and it leads to a bigger problem," Bullard said. "That happens when there isn't ... consistent coverage and access."

Another statistic that doesn't help Utah's children's health ranking is the rise in children and teen deaths from 24 per 100,000 in 2010 to 26 per 100,000 in 2016, Haven said. That increase raises Utah's death rate for youth to right at the national average.

Haven said "much of that has to do with our suicide rate," which has increased significantly among teens in recent years.

The economic well-being of Utah children was rated seventh in the Kids Count report, with the state beating national averages by several percentage points regarding both "children whose parents lack secure employment" and "children living in a household with a high housing cost burden."

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The report found 11 percent of Utah children are living in poverty, compared to 19 percent of children nationwide. The findings estimated 101,000 Utah children are impoverished. Beating that national average is praiseworthy, but is no reason to be complacent, Haven said.

"Yes, we have fewer kids living in poverty, but that doesn't mean we don't have kids living in poverty," she said. "Frankly, (those kids) don't care how we compare to Maine and Idaho. They care that they're going to bed hungry."

Utah ranked 12th overall in education, where findings showed that in recent years the state went from behind the national average to beating it in terms of overall fourth-grader reading proficiency and the proportion of high school students who graduate on time. In the 2015-16 school year, 15 percent of Utah students didn't graduate on time, the report found.

The report also concluded 1-in-11 Utah children are at risk of falling victim to an "undercount" in the 2020 U.S. Census.

Haven said the 2010 census already ran into significant undercounting problems, and that she believes the addition of a citizenship question in 2020 may in some cases discourage participation and exacerbate that issue.

Census data is used to determine funding levels for multiple federal programs benefitting children, so undercounting could be damaging, Haven said.

"If we have a really large undercount of children, we don't get as much money, but we still have the problem," she said. "It doesn't mean the problem goes away."

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