2025 Kids Count Data Dashboard released

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Kids in Kentucky are better off this year than they were in years past, but there are still areas – like obesity, poverty and education – where the state is falling behind. Those are the findings from a new report that tracks outcomes for Kentucky Children.

It’s called the 2025 Kids Count Data Dashboard. Researchers take the latest data on childhood well-being to see whether outcomes for children have improved, worsened or stayed the same. Metrics include economic well-being, health, education and community and family.

“So, there’s good news, but there’s bad news,” said Dr. Terry Brooks, the Executive Director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, who’s vision is to make Kentucky the best place in America to be a kid. “Let’s be very clear. This data is critical if you care about kids. It can and it should shape our direction as a state.”

According to Kentucky Youth Advocates, Kentucky’s roughly 1.1 million children saw improvement in 12 of the 16 child well-being indicators. For example, Brooks said childhood poverty rates have improved in 111 counties, 8th-grade math scores have risen across 96 school districts, and more kids are now being covered by health insurance.

But Brooks said the bad news shows that 40 percent of Eastern Kentucky kids grow up in poverty and the rates are high for black kids, too. Only 40 percent of 8th graders meet the minimal proficiency standards for education, and in 119 of 120 Kentucky counties, kids are hungrier today than one year ago.

But Brooks said there are also confusing points in the health data.

“One in four kids don’t have enough food, and yet in what is a quizzical juxtaposition of data, while too many kids don’t have enough to eat, too many kids in Kentucky suffer from obesity,” Brooks said. “One in five kids in Kentucky today are unhealthy because they are obese.”

According to the data, the obesity rate in Kentucky is higher than the national rate, and astronomically higher than in the 1970s – an increase of 270 percent.

Advocates said the data shows improvements for Kentucky kids, but that the commonwealth is still way behind and needs help from politicians.

“The critical point is turning kin shape into will shape, and that will shape will only come through decisive action from our lawmakers and Governor Beshear when that opening gavel falls in January,” Brooks said. “That means budget investments, that means smart policy moves, that means making kids a priority in real and relevant and measurable ways.”

A look at the full report can be found by clicking this link.