A new study has revealed maltreatment cases in around 12% American children. The study, conducted by researchers from Yale University, showed confirmed cases of neglect, physical, sexual or emotional abuse among American children.

Higher rates of maltreatment were seen on minority children, with one in five black children and one in seven Native American children being the victim of maltreatment.

Data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System Child File helped the researchers to base their findings. According to the figures provided by the researchers, over 5.6 billion children experienced maltreatment between 2004 and 2011.

Cases of confirmed child maltreatment have long been underestimated in this country, and it's clear from the study that it exists in numbers much more than the currently reported one in 100, said first author Christopher Wildeman, Associate Professor of sociology and faculty fellow at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale University.

"Maltreatment is on the scale of other major public health concerns that affect child health and well-being. Because child maltreatment is also a risk factor for poor mental and physical health outcomes throughout life, the results of this study provide valuable epidemiologic information", he concluded.

More than 2% of children fall victim to maltreatment during the first year of life, 5.8% are victimized before they become five and 12.5% are mistreated with some form of abuse or neglect before they turn 18, claimed the study
published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics.

African American children face the highest risk of maltreatment, with 20.9% being abused or neglected by the time they turn 18. Native American children come next, with a 14.5% cumulative risk of abuse or neglect followed by Latino kids, with a 13% cumulative risk before they turn 18.