Minority Children more likely to Suffer from Maltreatment in U.S.

A recent study conducted by researchers from Yale University shows that around 12 percent of American kids suffer from confirmed cases of maltreatment, including neglect, physical, sexual or emotional abuse.

The study results also showed that minority children were more likely to experience higher rates of the issue, with one in five black children and one in seven Native American children experiencing maltreatment during the study period.

For the study, researchers used data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System Child File. This information involves all U.S. children with a confirmed report of maltreatment.

Study findings revealed that over 5.6 million children experienced maltreatment between 2004 and 2011.

"Confirmed child maltreatment is dramatically underestimated in this country. Our findings show that it is far more prevalent than the 1 in 100 that is currently reported," said first author Christopher Wildeman, associate professor of sociology and faculty fellow at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale University, via a press release.

"Maltreatment is on the scale of other major public health concerns that affect child health and well-being," he concluded. "Because child maltreatment is also a risk factor for poor mental and physical health outcomes throughout life, the results of this study provide valuable epidemiologic information."

The findings were published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.