Children's Health: Is Living in a Red State Risky?

Using federal health statistics, Petit ranked all 50 states by their rates of death before the teen years, lack of adequate prenatal care, low birth weight, lack of insurance, and seven other measures. He combined all measures into an overall child health ranking. "A child in the bottom 10 states is twice as likely to die by age 14 as are children in the top 10," Petit says. All 10 bottom states voted Republican in 2004, with Mississippi on the very lowest rung. Blue states, in contrast, take nine of the top 10 slots, peaking with New Hampshire. Iowa was the only red state to crack the top 10.

"In red states, children have been hit hardest by an antitax, antigovernment ideology," he says. And that ideology translates into less money available to spend on child health. For example, Rhode Island, a blue state, spends $160 per capita on child welfare programs, tops in the nation. Mississippi spends $20. Petit admits that his bottom reds are also states with higher numbers of minorities in their populations. That could be a factor, since minorities traditionally have had less access to healthcare.

tags: children  childrens health  news media  

links: digg this    del.icio.us    technorati    reddit