CONCORD, N.H. — New Hampshire again ranks No. 1 nationally in an annual survey on children’s well-being. But the numbers also indicate a growing problem in the state: poverty.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation released its report Tuesday on how the 50 states fared in 10 categories of children’s health. Survey organizers said the numbers do not reflect the current economic downturn. The data were collected from 2000 to 2008, before most U.S. families were hit by the recession.

 

In composite rankings for all indicators, New Hampshire ranked highest, as it has in eight of the last nine years. This year, it was followed by Minnesota and Vermont. Mississippi ranked last.

“That’s an incredible record, and it says a lot about how well kids fare in this state,” said Ellen Fineberg, president of the Children’s Alliance of New Hampshire, a nonprofit group that does research on children in the state.

New Hampshire fared well in most categories, but saw its biggest setback in the percent of children in poverty — a 50 percent increase over eight years. Despite that, New Hampshire still had the lowest child poverty rate of all states.

In 2000, 6 percent of the children in the state were estimated to be living in poverty, according to the survey. In 2008, the number had grown to 9 percent. That translates into about 26,000 children, Fineberg said. The survey uses federal guidelines to define poverty conditions as an income below $21,834 for a family of two adults and two children.

Nationally, the percent of children living in poverty went up 6 percent from 2000 to 2008. Other areas that have worsened nationally are the percent of low-birthweight babies born and the percent of children living in single-parent families. New Hampshire held steady in these categories.