KidsHealth from Jacksonville, Fla.-based Nemours Children’s Health has become the most-visited pediatric website, with more than 110 million visits annually.
KidsHealth, which recently marked its third decade of existence and surpassed 6 billion page views, features free, physician-approved articles, illustrations, newsletters, patient care instructions and videos. It is also the most-cited pediatric website by AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
Becker’s connected with Matthew Davis, MD, executive vice president, enterprise physician-in-chief and chief scientific officer at Nemours Children’s Health, to discuss how the website has stayed relevant and grown and what the future holds for it in the age of AI.
Question: Looking back at 30 years of KidsHealth, what milestone or evolution do you believe has had the most meaningful impact on how families access pediatric health information today?
Dr. Matthew Davis: Thirty years ago, Nemours Children’s Health saw the immense potential of the internet as a tool to bring reliable, on-demand health information directly into the homes of families. Fast forward to today, and we are accustomed to having whole libraries of information at our fingertips. But as the online world has evolved, it can be difficult to know if information is accurate. Nemours’ KidsHealth.org ensures that the information found on our website is factually based and reviewed by licensed medical experts.
We take immense pride in ensuring that when families visit KidsHealth to get guidance on various aspects of their child’s health, the information they are reading is based on science. We also ensure that the information they are getting is easy to understand, supportive and empowering. As technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, our priority remains the same: We are committed to giving families clear and accurate pediatric health information.
Q: KidsHealth was created long before today’s major tech platforms existed. How has Nemours been able to maintain scientific rigor and trustworthiness in an online environment now filled with misinformation and paywalled content?
MD: Through KidsHealth.org, Nemours Children’s Health has long been committed to going beyond our walls to help parents, kids and teens be healthier with doctor-reviewed and evidence-based information and advice.
KidsHealth.org was created to provide knowledge, advice, perspective and comfort to families — from hospitals to homes, and from before birth through the teen years. Our Nemours Children’s clinicians regularly review and re-review all content, which includes illustrations and videos, to ensure medical accuracy.
Q: Partnerships have played a central role in KidsHealth’s growth — from Sesame Workshop to the NBA to the Michael Phelps Foundation. How do you evaluate and choose partners that align with Nemours’ mission?
MD: When evaluating new partnerships, we look for opportunities to extend our reach to connect families where they are — including home, school and community. We look to collaborate with brands and organizations that families trust and align with our vision.
For example, our partnership with Cheerios brought KidsHealth education to the back of 100 million cereal boxes, providing parenting advice at the kitchen table. Our partnership with NBA Cares delivered content about healthy eating and exercise to inspire families at multiple NBA All-Star games and other community events. By teaming up in this way, we can reach even more families with information that they can trust.
Q: As mobile usage now makes up more than 75% of KidsHealth traffic, how is Nemours innovating to meet families where they are? And how do you maintain traffic in an era of AI search and ChatGPT?
MD: Our dynamic teams are always working behind the scenes to optimize our user experience, maximize users’ yield on their searches, and ensure that front-end content and back-end infrastructure seamlessly deliver content that is relevant, engaging, and medically accurate. We are fortunate to have been early adopters and the very first children’s health site on the internet.
Our longevity and medical expertise have earned us credibility. Every year, our content is surfaced in more than 9.4 billion AI overviews and search results. In fact, if you were to use an AI chatbot like ChatGPT to find pediatric health information, there’s a high chance that the chatbot is pulling answers from KidsHealth.org.
Families should check that the health information they are getting, whether through an AI tool or a search engine, ultimately is coming from a reliable source like KidsHealth.org. ChatGPT and other AI tools can be a helpful starting point, but the credibility and quality of the answers they give back depend on where the information originates. KidsHealth.org has been a reliable, trusted source for decades.
Q: With KidsHealth now reaching families through more than 250 partner organizations, including other health systems and children’s hospitals, what opportunities do you see for expanding its impact in the coming years?
MD: Our partnerships team is always innovating and collaborating with organizations to expand our reach and connect with parents, kids and teens around the world. As we look to 2026 and beyond, we continue to push for greater integration for education at the point of care — whether in traditional clinical settings, digital care plans, retail pharmacy, or others.
The biggest impact Nemours KidsHealth can deliver is better health outcomes for the families and communities we serve. Nemours is committed to doing all we can to help create the healthiest generations of children, and Nemours KidsHealth is a testament to that work.
