Infant Mortality in the United States - Research Paper Example

 Infant Mortality in United States While America is suffering from declining levels of literacy and cuts to its educational services. A national survey in America in 1975 found 23 million American adults were functionally illiterate. A more recent Californian survey describes the problem of illiteracy as a 'crisis'. America is cutting back its system of free health care, long waiting lists mean some surgical procedures are only available to those with private health cover (Sagan, 2007). America is cutting back its system of free health care; long waiting lists mean some surgical procedures are only available to those with private health cover. To say nothing of the general social conditions which impact on the healthiness of a nation. Of greatest concern for the future of American health is the fact that certain social conditions known to be associated with poor health outcomes are rapidly increasing. The prevalence of illiteracy, divorce, teenage pregnancy, and homelessness, all of which are associated with increased morbidity and mortality, are on the increase in the United States. Twenty-five percent of adult Californian's were found to be functionally illiterate, and the number is growing at a rate of 230,000 per year (Sagan, 2007). Research Question: What is the difference in infant mortality rates in different racial groups? Infants are entirely dependent on others in the world for endurance, the rate of infant mortality in which a population practice is usually considered to be one of the mainly sensitive indicators of how sound that populace is faring. Rate of infant mortality is describe as the number of deaths of children who are less than 1 year old per 1000 births in the populace. In the United States, children born in African-American families presently experience a rate of infant mortality that is approximately 2.5 times more than that of children born in White families that is approximately (infant mortality rate of African American families is 18.0 and infant mortality rate of White babies is 7.6), a considerable gap that implies large divergence in the quality of life among the two populations. Here is the infant mortality rate in United States Data source:  World Bank, World Development Indicators Here the graph from the data obtained from World Bank shows the decreasing trend in infnt mortality rate in United States from 1960to 2008. This research study will examine three of the general schools of thought which have been advanced in trying to account for the racial difference in infant mortality and suggests a fourth, more promising perspective. The first common perspective, or school of thought, argues that biological differences between the two groups may be important: Black babies are born smaller than White babies and, therefore, are at higher risk of infant death. While there is a considerable difference (about 1/2 pound) in average birth weight between the races, no evidence exists to suggest that the birth weight difference is biological in nature. On the contrary, substantial evidence exists that racial differences in birth weight are largely dependent upon the differing social and environmental conditions experienced by the populations. In short, little merit is currently granted to the biological perspective. A second school of thought argues that behavioral differences between the two groups may be important in understanding racial differences in infant mortality. Some observers point to the higher rate of unmarried childbearing and the younger age at which women give birth within the Black community as key reasons for their higher rate of infant mortality. However, married Black women and older Black women do not fare much better (in terms of their infants' survival) when compared to young, unmarried Black women. In fact, it is acknowledged by the medical community that the best biological age (in terms of infant mortality) to bear children is between 16 and 20. Others point out that many young, unmarried Black women may be having children at an opportune time (especially if they are poor), given their limited educational and employment opportunities, the young age of their own mothers (to better help with childcare), and their own good health (which for many poor women, tends to rapidly deteriorate through the 20's and 30's) (Geronimus, 2002). Thus, most scholars working in this area agree that the age and marital status of Black women have very limited effects on the health and survival of their infants. Others arguing in the behavioral school of thought suggest that it is the use of substances (cigarettes, alcohol, drugs) among Black women that is the key to their higher infant mortality. Again, there is little evidence for this argument. In fact, White women, on average, smoke and drink slightly more than Black women during pregnancy. Less is known about the prevalence of drug use during pregnancy, but limited studies suggest that racial differences in drug use also can account for very little of the infant mortality differences between Blacks and Whites. A third: more influential, school of thought suggests that infants born to Black women are at a higher risk of infant death because of the increased prevalence of poverty within the Black community. Poverty, in turn, is associated with reduced access to health care, poorer environmental conditions (like crowding, exposure to toxins, and inferior sanitation), and poorer nutrition for women and children all conditions which impact upon the chances of infant survival. Because African-Americans have historically (and continue to be) subjected to lower socioeconomic standing within American society, differences in rates of poverty can account for a portion of the infant mortality differences between the two groups. Nonetheless, study after study has shown that income differences cannot account for anywhere close to the entire infant mortality gap. Recent studies in this area have suggested that a fourth school of thought is necessary, one which emphasizes the deleterious effects of institutional-level racism (David and Collins, 2001). For instance, many African-Americans have been constrained to live in highly-segregated, inner-city, poor communities, even when their incomes are high enough to find housing elsewhere (Massey and Denton, 2003). Access to private health care is limited in many inner-city communities, many types of disease remain unchecked, and the physical environment in many of these places is rapidly decaying. Each of these can have negative impacts on the survival of infants. The frustrations of living in a racially-stratified society and dealing with institutional hurdles in education, service, housing, etc. have also been exposed to be very traumatic (Dressler, 2003). Maternal strain, particularly during pregnancy, has newly been implicated as a main risk-factor for deprived pregnancy result. Strain has also been associated to hypertension, an additional condition which is very common amongst even young Black women and has been related to poor pregnancy result, consist of infant mortality. These are just few general examples should be sufficient to display that the consequences of racism, even outer of amplified poverty, may have damaging results for the health and continued existence of the youngest person of the African-American population. Eradicating differences in infant mortality among Blacks and Whites in the United States may engage progressive action toward not only reducing poverty within the Black community, but also eliminating the hardened, institutional-level racism that plagues our society. References David, R. and J. Collins, (2001) "Bad Outcomes in Black Babies: Race or Racism?" Ethnicity and Disease 1: 236-244. Dressler, W., (2003). “Health in the African-American Community: Accounting for Health Differentials." Medical Anthropology Quarterly 7(4): 325-345. Geronimus, A., (2002). "The Weathering Hypothesis and the Health of African-American Women and Infants." Ethnicity and Disease 2: 207-221. 1992. Massey, D. and N. Denton, (2003). “American Apartheid”. Cambridge: Harvard Press. Sagan, L. A. (2007). “The health of nations--True causes of sickness and well-being”. New York: Basic Books. Read More