Infant health inequality has increased since 2010, study finds

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-12/bu-ihi120820.php

 

News Release 8-Dec-2020
Brown University

 

After several decades of improvement, inequality in infant health is once again on the rise in the United States, a pair of Brown University researchers has found.

Between 1989 and 2010, the health gap between infants born to the most socially advantaged mothers -- those who are married, highly educated and white -- and infants born to the least socially advantaged mothers -- those who are unmarried, without a high school diploma and Black -- steadily decreased. But according to a new study, that trend began to reverse in 2010, creating an ever-widening gulf that could last for generations.

"Lots of Americans view the U.S. as a land of equal opportunity where hard work pays off," Emily Rauscher, an associate professor of sociology at Brown. "But equality of opportunity is fundamentally impossible to achieve as long as there is inequality in infant health. When babies are born in under-resourced communities, they are more likely to be born underweight or malnourished. They're already at a disadvantage before they've even had an opportunity to do anything in the world."


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The trend is a concern, Rauscher and Rangel explained, because multiple studies have shown that when infants are born underweight or more than three weeks before their due date, they may face health complications that could affect mental, physical and economic well-being for years to come. Those health complications are more likely to occur in infants born to mothers who face social and economic disadvantages, studies show, because they are more likely to experience high levels of stress, live in areas with limited access to affordable, nutritious food and come into contact with harmful chemicals in places where they live and work.

"The social conditions of living in an under-resourced community -- more exposure to carcinogens, less access to healthy food, more stress -- result in poorer infant health outcomes, like issues with cognitive development," Rangel said. "That could result in a child struggling in school or an adult struggling to find a job. That could mean a child exhibiting externalizing behaviors -- lashing out at peers."

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