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Infant mortality rate gap has narrowed between blacks and whites, but big problems remain

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Illinois

* From Anna Rowan at Voices for Illinois Children…

Our recent analysis of CDC cause of death data shows that Illinois’s overall child death rate masks disparities across groups and across the state. Our state’s overall child death rate puts us at about the national average, but we have among the highest Black-White gaps in the entire country. Additionally, the county-level rates span a large range. For example, the child death rate is four times higher in Marion County than in DuPage County. Child death rates are highest in Illinois’s large central metro counties and rural counties and are lowest in the suburban counties.

Causes of Death Vary by Age and Race/Ethnicity. Across age groups, the top causes of death differ. Infants are most likely to die from disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight, children are most likely to die from diseases, and teens are most likely to die from accidents (including motor vehicle accidents). There are also large racial disparities in certain causes of death:

* Black infants are over three times more likely than White infants to die from disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight.
* Black children are over three times more likely than White and Hispanic/Latino children to die from diseases.
* The homicide death rate for Black teen boys is more than six times the suicide rate of White teen boys, which is a leading cause of death for that group.

Trends. From 2000 to 2015, the overall death rate for children ages 19 and under in Illinois decreased from 74.5 to 52.2 per 100,000 children, so we have made significant progress as a state. But that progress has been uneven. Encouragingly, from 2005 to 2015, the infant mortality rate decreased for all groups, and the Black-White infant mortality rate gap narrowed. In that same time period, the overall teen death rate decreased, as did the rate for White and Hispanic/Latino teens. Alarmingly, though, the rate increased for Black teens.

More details here.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jun 6, 18 @ 10:49 am

Comments

Interesting that Marion County has the highest child death rate for all counties. According to the US Census Bureau, Marion is 91% white and the percentage of people “With a disability, under age 65 years” is 12.5%, which is over five percentage points higher than the state average.

http://www.voices4kids.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/IL-Death-Overview.pdf

Comment by City Zen Wednesday, Jun 6, 18 @ 11:13 am
Ok, assuming stats are correct and remembering that correlation is not causation one must ask if this is a significant finding. And if it is then why.

Comment by NeverPoliticallyCorrect Wednesday, Jun 6, 18 @ 4:38 pm