Minnesota has retained a top spot for child health and well-being, according to a respected national ranking released this week, but a sharp rise in child poverty suggests that new challenges are emerging for many of the state's families.

Child poverty rose 56 percent in Minnesota in the last decade -- much faster than the national average -- so that by 2009, some 174,000 children lived in poor economic conditions, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Minnesota, which boasted the nation's second-lowest poverty rate in 2000, fell to 11th in 2009.

"Now we really are starting to see what impact the recession had on children," said Kara Arzamendia, research director at Children's Defense Fund-Minnesota. "The gains we made with a strong economy in the '90s have really been kind of wiped out."

Exactly why Minnesota's child poverty rate rose faster than the national rate is unclear. Arzamendia said any state with a low rate will see a more rapid statistical increase than the national average. "Sometimes, the higher up you are, the further you can fall," she said.

The recession is certainly a factor. The number of Minnesota children living with parents who either didn't have jobs or worked only part time increased from 22 percent in 2008 to 25 percent in 2009.

Dr. Mark Wanderman sees the impact of poverty on children at his Fairview pediatric clinic in Minneapolis.

Poverty means poorer nutrition and housing, which threaten the growth and development of children and could pull down Minnesota's standing as a healthy state. "This will put more children in peril," Wanderman said.

On the bright side, Minnesota ranked second overall in the Kids Count report for the fourth consecutive year -- behind New Hampshire -- based largely on its strong high school graduation rate and its low rates of infant mortality and low-birth-weight babies.

The state saw a decline in death rates among teens and children and a sharp drop in the share of teenagers who were not in high school or high school graduates. Minnesota ranked among the 10 best states in every measure except child poverty.

A rising poverty rate, though, could eventually drag these other indicators of child well-being in the wrong direction. An increase in child poverty, for example, would make it harder for children to graduate from high school, Arzamendia said.

"Unless we deal with the increases in child poverty," she said, "we cannot begin to address the other challenges represented in the data to promote the health and well-being of Minnesota's children."

Jeremy Olson • 612-673-7744