Infant mortality disparity grows in Appalachia, study finds
Source: Associated Press
Adam Beam, Associated Press
Updated 5:05 pm, Monday, August 7, 2017
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) Placing much of the blame on smoking, a study chronicling the ongoing health crisis in Appalachia has concluded that the 13-state region suffers from a growing disparity in infant mortality and life expectancy, two key indicators of "a nation's health and well-being."
The study , published in the August issue of Health Affairs, compared infant mortality and life expectancy rates in Appalachia with the rest of the United States between 1990 and 2013. It found while the rates were similar in the 1990s, by 2013 infant mortality across Appalachia was 16 percent higher than the rest of the country while life expectancy for adults was 2.4 years shorter.
While the region has been the focus of the opioid epidemic in recent years, the study found one of the biggest culprits was likely the prevalence of smoking and the region's tendency to be "more accepting of tobacco use as a social norm." Gopal K. Singh, a co-author of the study and a senior health equity adviser with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, noted nearly 20 percent of Appalachian women report they smoked during pregnancy. In the rest of the country, it's 8 percent.
"Smoking takes a tremendous toll on the health of Appalachians," the authors wrote.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Infant-mortality-disparity-grows-in-Appalachia-11740221.php
ck4829
(35,094 posts)They'll even get to choose what coffin they get, take that liberals and globalists!
Skittles
(153,220 posts)ck4829
(35,094 posts)Obviously, not everyone in the Appalachian region is like this, but this is what a lot of them would prefer and what we have to face.
Not saying it doesn't make this perception go away.
Skittles
(153,220 posts)no matter what they support
atreides1
(16,094 posts)I don't believe they're disturbed, I believe that they've come to accept it as inevitable! And in some cases, many allow their religious beliefs to guide them...just a part of God's plan!
Skittles
(153,220 posts)EllieBC
(3,042 posts)If you think people, especially parents, aren't worried about infant mortality than you really should get out more.
Using your logic, on the good liberal west coast, the parents must not care if their kids die from preventable diseases as they have some of the lowest vaccination compliance rates in the US.
NickB79
(19,276 posts)At the very least vote for politicians that expand health care access to the poor and cut their use of tobacco while pregnant. They have not so far.
You can say rising child mortality in your community is disturbing, but actions speak louder than words. If, in a few years, the rate flips and starts going down as it should, I will gladly eat crow.
adigal
(7,581 posts)But if they cared about things like infant mortality, they wouldn't support Republicans.
Appalachia is what the USA would be without the blue states. Which I sure wish we could do. Leave the red states behind.
Skittles
(153,220 posts)and I am DONE here
procon
(15,805 posts)needless tragedies. No prenatal care, no health insurance, no addiction treatment efforts, no early anti-smoking campaigns, no food or decent living conditions, but by god, they'll still vote for any damn Republican!