One in eight children across the U.S. experience maltreatment before they turn 18, research suggests.

Christopher Wildeman, Ph.D., of Yale University, New Haven, Conn., and colleagues used data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System Child File to estimate that more 12 percent of children in the U.S. will go through some form of abuse or neglect by 18 years of age. Such findings by the Yale researchers suggest that the maltreatment of children is more frequent than current estimates.

Currently, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department estimates that approximately one in 100 children experience neglect and abuse every year.

“Child maltreatment is common. It’s unequally distributed and if we don’t think about public policies that seek to diminish child maltreatment, we’re not only leading ourselves to have a less healthy generation of children, we’re also potentially allowing racial disparities in childhood maltreatment to grow,” said Wildeman in a statement.

The research involved looking at confirmed cases of abuse and neglect that were reported by child protective services agencies across the U.S., which revealed that more than 5.6 million kids had experienced maltreatment between 2004 and 2011. The highest rates of maltreatment involve kids who are black, Hispanic and Native American, as compared to kids who are white or Asian/Pacific Islander.

Mistreatment of children was associated with higher rates of obesity, mental health issues, and even death. Girls were more likely to be mistreated than boys. The vast majority of maltreatment is considered to be neglect, which also involves incompetent supervision.

The research is published in JAMA Pediatrics.