A measured approach to child health.

Children's health and its measurement have gained increasing attention in the face of advances in treating disease, and the growing recognition of long-term implications of child health for adult health and the nation's economy. Advances in measurement are aided by new conceptualizations, including a dynamic definition of child health and model of how it evolves. This paper discusses challenges in measurement of child health, the role of large-scale data sets, how to select a measure, 2 promising measurement frontiers, and the role of the Academic Pediatric Association in promoting a measured approach to child health.