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In 2007, for the first time, the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) included questions to assess use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in children in the U.S. Parents of 9417 children (age range, 0–17 years) were interviewed about their own and their children’s past-year use of 10 CAM therapies administered by a practitioner, 26 CAM therapies that did not require a practitioner, and of past 30-day use of nonvitamin, nonmineral, natural products (e.g., echinacea, ginseng).
Overall, 12% of children (and 38% of adults) used one or more forms of CAM. Groups with the highest CAM use were adolescents (16%), whites (13%), children whose parents used CAM (24%), those who were 200% or more above the poverty line (15%), and those wh…