St. Paul Reporter

Minnesota ranked 12th best in the nation in a recent WalletHub study that evaluated the nation's children's health care data through three dimensions.

The state earned a total score of 51.55 points out of a possible 100. In the category of "Kids' Health and Access to Care," Minnesota ranked 16th. The state was 14th for "Kids' Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity," and 15th for "Kids' Oral Health."

Researchers measured 33 criteria within these three categories including the number of family doctors per capita, the share of children in good health, the percentage of youth with depression and daily exercise routines.

WalletHub reports that around 95% of children ages 0-18  have health insurance in the United States but healthcare costs have nearly doubled since 1980.

In the age of COVID-19, children's health is especially important since they can contract and easily spread the virus since their hygiene practices may not be as good as that of adults.