Question

Discussion 3

The following is a list of health inequalities in the US. Choose one and discuss (1) whether you believe this is a health inequity and why and (2) factors that may contribute to this inequality.

1. Compared with white youth, black and Hispanic youth have a high prevalence of asthma, overweight and Type 2 diabetes.

2Rates of HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy are higher among black and Hispanic youth than among whites of the same age.

3A baby born to an African-American mother has more than twice the risk of dying during the first year of life than a white American baby.

4 Hispanic youth experience proportionately more anxiety-related behaviors and depression than do non-Hispanic white youth.

5 Suicide rates among American Indians/ Alaska natives aged 15-35 years are more than two times higher than the national average for that age group.

6LGBT youth are more likely to be overweight than non-LGBT youth.

7. 35 percent of LGBT youth have reported suicide attempts compared to 10 percent of non-LGBT youth.

Answer 1

3. A baby born to an African-American mother has more than twice the risk of dying during the first year of life than a white American baby.

Introduction

The infant mortality rates in the US have fallen in the last two decades. As per the reports from the ‘Centre for disease control and prevention’, in the year 2017 more than 22000 babies died before one year of life. The infant mortality rate to be calculated in that year was 5.79deaths per 1000 births, however, this rate was 16 % less than the rates in 2005.

But still there remains a major disparity that may have serious implications on the health of the society. Some new analysis and reports show that the infant mortality rates among the African American mothers are twice more as compared to the white Americans.

Statistical trends in the infant mortality

• In 2017, the African Americans had the highest infant mortality rates of 10.97 infant deaths per 1000 births, whereas the white Americans had a rate of 4.67 infant deaths per 1000 births.
• In 2017, the neonatal mortality rate was also highest among African Americans (7.16) as compared to white Americans.
• In 2017, the postneonatal mortality rates among the African Americans were calculated to be 3.82 which was higher than the white Americans’ postneonatal mortality rates of 1.63.

Factors contributing to health inequality

• The major causes for the infant mortality rates like birth defects, sudden infant death syndrome, respiratory distress syndrome, perinatal conditions, influenza, and pneumonia have reduced in the last five decades, whereas there has been seen an increase in the deaths related to prematurity, low birth weight and unintentional; injuries.
• In 2016, Mothers with less than a high school education had 2.4, 1.9, and 3.7 times higher risk for infant, neonatal and postneonatal mortality rates as compared to the mothers who had a college degree.
• Poverty and low socioeconomic status: poverty and lack of financial stability make the African American babies more vulnerable and susceptible to morality.
• Geographical disparities have also been widened across the regions and the states; the southeast regions have a higher infant mortality rate than those in New England and pacific regions
• Many researchers have shown that very less African American mothers get an access for prenatal care as compared to white American mothers
• Social and environmental risk factors: the major factors to which the African Americans are exposed to are :

• Poor access to quality food
• Unequal educational opportunities
• Substandard housing facility
• Poor access to quality and comprehensive health care facilities
• Poverty
• Poor employment opportunities
• Lack of access to good wages and flexible working hours

• Structural racism has also been seen in some of the health care sectors in which the African Americans receive a poorer quality care as compared to the white Americans. They are often denied care and social service providers may sometimes fail to treat them with respect and dignity. These stressors over a long run trigger some biological processors that may undermine African American women’s physical and m mental health
• Mental health: sometimes the long-term toil with the racism can make the African Americans more susceptible for medical conditions that may threaten theirs and the infants' lives, these may include preeclampsia, eclampsia embolisms, etc.

Conclusion

The above statistical trends highlight how the infant mortality rates are twice more as compared to the white Americans. It is important to eliminate the health inequalities and this will require significant changes which include minimizing the factors that contributes and prevents the African Americans from accessing opportunities for a quality health care.