Contact:
Mara Powell
mpowell@kyyouth.org

2025 Kentucky KIDS COUNT Data Dashboard Launches with a Snapshot on Childhood Obesity and Food Access

Featuring the latest county-level data for key measures of child health, education, economic security, and family and community

Louisville, KY – The 2025 Kentucky KIDS COUNT Data Dashboard, released today by Kentucky Youth Advocates, features the latest data on measures of child well-being, showing whether outcomes for children across the Commonwealth have improved, worsened, or stayed the same compared to baseline data.

Detailed data are available for every Kentucky county within the interactive Data Dashboard, including state-level data disaggregated by race/ethnicity, at www.kyyouth.org/kentucky-kids-count/.

Data note: In this year’s dashboard, the youth incarceration rate by county is replaced by the percent of children living in high-poverty neighborhoods by county. 

“Now, more than ever, access to reliable data on child well-being is critical for equipping decision makers, media, and those caring professionals who serve children everyday with the tools to understand the scope of how kids are faring in their community and to have guideposts for improving any consistently poor outcomes. What gets measured, can get changed – and we all have a role to play in making Kentucky the best place in America to be young,” said Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates.

In addition, the 2025 Data Dashboard spotlights trends in childhood obesity, emphasizing the importance of access to healthy foods through school meals, SNAP, and other impactful initiatives like the Farmers Market Nutrition Program. Key takeaways include: 

  • In Kentucky, nearly one in five youth ages 6–17 are obese, mirroring the national rate of 17%, a more than 270% increase compared to the 1970s.
  • Most Kentucky schools are able to provide free meals to all students through the Community Eligibility Provision, and national research shows that those participating schools saw a relative reduction in obesity compared to non-participating schools. 
  • National research shows that children living in high poverty neighborhoods – a reality for nearly one in three children in Kentucky – with poor food access during pregnancy and early childhood had a 50% higher risk of obesity throughout their childhood and adolescence. 

“Access to healthy, affordable foods where kids are growing up makes an immense difference in the current and future health of Kentucky kids. School meals, SNAP, initiatives like Double Dollars and the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition program, and other economic policies ensure that Kentucky kids don’t go to bed hungry each night. By curbing child hunger, our kids can grow up strong, ready to learn, and set up for a lifetime of healthier outcomes – how can we deny that?” said Brooks.

Overall, Kentucky’s over 1.1 million children saw improvement in 12 of the 16 child well-being indicators, compared to their baseline data. Yet, in several cases, the Commonwealth is still falling short in making this the best place in America to be young.

Child well-being data highlights from the 2025 Data Dashboard include:

  • While child poverty rates in 2023 improved in 111 out of 120 counties compared to five years previous, one in five (20%) children overall continue to live in poverty. There were five counties – all in eastern Kentucky – with child poverty rates of over 40%. Due to historic and ongoing barriers to opportunities, 31% of Black children and 23% of Latinx children live in poverty in Kentucky compared to 17% of White children.
  • In 2019-2023, 45% of Kentucky households had a high rental cost burden in which renters spent 30% or more of their income on rent plus utilities. While 5 counties  – all in eastern Kentucky – show high rental cost burden rates of 60% or higher, 70 counties experienced improved rates over this time period compared to 2014-2018.
  • One in five (21%) Kentucky children lived in food insecure households in 2023. Since 2021, all but one Kentucky county experienced worse rates of child food insecurity, with 40 counties currently showing a rate of 25% or higher.
  • In the 2024-2025 school year, the high school graduation rate improved overall to 93.5% from 90.9% in 2019-2020. Additionally, just half (50%) of fourth graders scored proficient or higher in reading in the most recent school year, with 89 of the 169 districts with available data experiencing worse rates compared to 2023-2024. While improving in 96 school districts, just 40% of eighth graders scored proficient or higher in math in the same time period.
  • In 2023, nearly 97% of Kentucky children had health insurance with 86 counties experiencing improved rates compared to 2018. Also, in 2021-2023, just one in ten Kentucky mothers smoked during pregnancy, which is an improvement since 2016-2018. Over this time period, every Kentucky county experienced better rates of smoking during pregnancy.
  • In 2022-2024, there was a rate of 39.4 per 1,000 Kentucky children in foster care, which is better compared to 2017-2019. The state’s percentage of children exiting foster care to reunification with a parent also improved in this time period to 38%.

“As we look ahead, the 2026 Kentucky General Assembly is faced with immense budget challenges – yet, great opportunities persist to make a real impact on the daily lives of Kentucky kids and their families. Through the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children, Kentucky Youth Advocates and our many statewide partners are poised and ready to work with legislators and the Administration to boost child abuse prevention and response efforts, improve family housing stability, and support youth health and mental health. The question remains – will our leaders step up to the challenge?” asked Brooks. 

The 2025 Kentucky KIDS COUNT Data Dashboard was made possible with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Kentucky KIDS COUNT sponsors, including Aetna® Better Health of Kentucky, Kosair for Kids®, Kentucky Primary Care Association, Kentucky United Methodist Children’s Homes, and Save the Children. Any findings and conclusions presented in this report are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Annie E. Casey Foundation or other supporters.

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About Kentucky Youth Advocates
Kentucky Youth Advocates believes all children deserve to be safe, healthy, and secure. As THE independent voice for Kentucky’s children, we work to ensure policymakers create investments and policies that are good for children. Learn more at kyyouth.org.