StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Infant Mortality in the United States - Research Paper Example

Cite this document
Summary
In the paper “Infant Mortality in the United States,” the author answers the question: What is the difference in infant mortality rates in different racial groups? The rate of infant mortality is usually considered to be one of the mainly sensitive indicators of how sound that populace is faring…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER93.6% of users find it useful
Infant Mortality in the United States
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Infant Mortality in the United States"

 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
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(Infant Mortality in the United States Research Paper, n.d.)
Infant Mortality in the United States Research Paper. https://studentshare.org/social-science/1735859-demographic-term-paper
(Infant Mortality in the United States Research Paper)
Infant Mortality in the United States Research Paper. https://studentshare.org/social-science/1735859-demographic-term-paper.
“Infant Mortality in the United States Research Paper”. https://studentshare.org/social-science/1735859-demographic-term-paper.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Infant Mortality in the United States

Report on the statistical trends

The Millennium Summit of the united Nations had set the target for MDGs as the reduction of the under-five mortality rate by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015.... infant mortality within WHO region 2.... infant mortality rate and the under-five mortality rate data obtained from the WHO have been used for trend analysis.... Source of Data The infant mortality rate is the probability of a child born alive to die within 1 year of their birth, and under-five mortality rate is the probability of a child dying by age 5 per 1000 live births which is a measurement of child survival....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Working mothers shoudn't go back to work year aftergiving birth

However, the positive impact that delayed return to employment has on the infant, on the mother, on the society, far exceeds the adverse impact of early return to labor market.... Mothers are the primary caregivers of the family and their return to re-employment soon after birth of a child affects several factors – parental well-being, investment in parenting, marital relationship, attitudes towards the work and family, and the infant's disposition and temperament (Feldman, Sussman & Zigler, 2004)....
3 Pages (750 words) Research Paper

Ending the Life of a Newborn

Examining the Groningen protocol: Comparing the treatment of terminally-ill infants in the Netherlands with treatment given in the united states and England.... Finally, the protocol provides an incoherent criterion used for deciding whether to terminate the life of an infant since it requires the infant to experience unbearable suffering.... The protocol proposes that the decision to terminate the life of an infant is supposed be made in conjunction with a doctor who provides the guardian or parent of the infant with relevant medical information, and the doctor can then proceed and end the life of the infant in a humane manner, if need be....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Magnetic flux density

This paper seeks to discuss the causes of high mortality in Cameroon.... As found out by Newman (2013) maternal mortality in Cameroon stands at 680 per 100,000 births.... Across the world, chronic diseases, and infant mortality have continued affecting people of all races.... It is indicated that this high mortality rate in Cameroon is largely contributed by high infant mortality and maternal mortality.... It is largely indicated that that in Cameroon, low birth weight contributes to 70-80 percent of infant mortality rates (Newman, 2013)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Lab Report

Why America Isn't the Greatest Country in the World Anymore

Statistics indicate that the education system in the united states is failing.... The statistics are startling since low literacy skills can have negative effects on the global image of the united states.... The statistics make the united states rank top in terms of deaths from the violence that reduces life expectancy.... nbsp;… The anchor points out that America is “seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in maths, the twenty-second in science, hundred and seventy-eighth in infant mortality, forty-ninth in life expectancy, and third in median household income”....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

WK 3 DB1 AND 2 SIDS, Morbidity, Mortality, and Associated Costs

SIDS has been identified as the third world chief cause of infant death in the united states.... It is clearly shown that SIDS is the third leading cause of infant mortality, which I agree with because the disease has endangered the life of many infants.... This essay is imperative in the understanding of the syndrome as it systematically indicates all the relevant information and knowledge necessary to understand the seriousness of the matter in relation to infant mortality....
2 Pages (500 words) Coursework

Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act 2011

The author of this paper "Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act 2011" discusses and analyzes the validity and viability of the Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act 2011 and its potential to rectify the problem in the united states hospital systems.... in the united states, it happens predominantly in hospitals causing lots of emotional pain and anguish to parents and public mistrust against hospitals.... This paper seeks to analyze the validity and viability of the Infant Protection and Baby Switching Prevention Act 2011 and its potential to rectify the problem in the united states hospital systems....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Report on the statistical trends

infant mortality rate and the under-five mortality rate data obtained from the WHO have been used for trend analysis.... Today, 193 UN member states and 123 organizations are working on the Declaration resultant Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).... The MDGs are eight global targets that each… These goals include eradication of extreme poverty; achieve universal primary education; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; develop a universal partnership for development; ensure environmental sustainability; This research project evaluates the impact of the recent economic crisis whose impact was felt all world over, on the successful implementation of the MDG-4, reduction of child mortality, among the six WHO regions, and the global index on the same....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us