"In a stunning improvement in children's health, far fewer kids have high lead levels than 20 years ago, new government research reports -- a testament to aggressive efforts to get lead out of paint, water and soil. ... Federal researchers found that just 1.4 percent of young children had elevated lead levels in their blood in 2004, the latest data available. That compares with almost 9 percent in 1988. ... The study was being released Monday in the March edition of the journal Pediatrics. It is based on nearly 5,000 children, ages 1 to 5, who were part of a periodic government health survey."
