Trump cites record death rate in child health message

President Donald Trump used a Child Health Day message dated 5 October to say his administration had taken more than 120 specific actions through its Make Our Children Healthy Again strategy. He also cited what he called the lowest death rate in US history during his administration’s first year, while acknowledging that more work remained to improve children’s health. [1]

A corresponding official record does show a decline: the National Center for Health Statistics estimates that the age-adjusted death rate fell from 722.1 per 100,000 in 2024 to 689.2 in calendar year 2025, the lowest recorded rate. But that provisional figure covers all ages and causes of death, not the prevalence of chronic illness among children. The White House message does not identify a dataset or define the period it calls the administration’s “first year”. [2]

There was also a measured decline among children aged five to 14: their death rate fell from 14.5 to 14.0 per 100,000 between 2024 and 2025. The national death rate had already been falling, from 750.5 in 2023 to 722.1 in 2024. Those trends do not establish what contribution, if any, the children’s health strategy made. [2] [5]

The number of actions is a separate question. The Department of Health and Human Services has described the strategy as containing more than 120 recommendations; that is neither a count of actions taken nor a rebuttal of Trump’s claim. Separately, a federal health agency announced $525.3m in awards for an existing voluntary home-visiting programme serving families with young children. The awards document funding, but do not show whether it forms part of Trump’s action count or what health outcomes it will produce. [3] [6] [7]