UID:
edocfu_9961565865502883
Format:
1 online resource (621 pages)
ISBN:
0-309-49341-2
,
0-309-49339-0
Content:
All children deserve the opportunity to meet their full health potential and lead a fulfilling life. Our nation's future depends on it. Yet, there are millions of children in the United States who are not afforded this opportunity today. While spending a record amount of money on health care services, the United States has the worst infant mortality rate among 19 similar wealthy nations, and the U.S. maternal mortality rate in 2018 was our highest since 2000. Although the United States is one of the richest nations in the world, in 2015 more than 9.6 million children lived in families with annual incomes below the poverty line (based on the Supplemental Poverty Measure), with approximately 2.1 million living in deep poverty. The highest rates of poverty were found among Hispanic, African American, and American Indian/Alaska Native families. This is deeply concerning because poverty during pregnancy and childhood is directly tied to poor health and developmental outcomes. Our nation's health disparities, of which there are many, are directly linked to what happens in early children and prenatally (and even earlier). For all children to lead fulfilling lives, we need to first achieve health equity as a nation, and to do so, we must focus on the youngest, and most vulnerable, in our nation. We also need to look beyond health care for solutions; while health care is necessary to improve health outcomes, fixing health care alone will not address health inequities.--
Additional Edition:
ISBN 0-309-49338-2
Language:
English
Keywords:
Conference papers and proceedings.