By Margarita Martín-Hidalgo Birnbaum
As the U.S. baby formula shortage stretches into summer, it continues to underscore that income level, employment type and geography are factors that affect people’s access to basic nutrition. The crisis, caused in part by the shutdown of an Abbott manufacturing plant over concerns of food contamination, is also increasing awareness of existing disparities in maternal and infant health.
With that in mind, we’re sharing data sources and reports about maternal and infant health trends by race, ethnicity, geography and other social determinants of health trends to help you develop context for your stories. Offering explanations about the reasons for those disparities will help readers understand why some families may be more affected by this food supply debacle, as well as identify other relevant story ideas.
-
To begin to understand why many parents and caregivers rely heavily on formula to feed their infants and older babies, turn to breastfeeding trend reports and studies. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends mothers to breastfeed their children until they are six months old. Although the overall breastfeeding rate has increased over the past decade, it’s only increased among certain U.S. race and ethnic groups. CDC data shows that non-Hispanic Black infants are less likely to breastfeed when compared to their non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic Asian and Hispanic counterparts.
Research looking at race and ethnic disparities in nursing rates has shown they may be associated with lack of lactation education support from health care providers, occupation, and workplace racism, among other factors. This study, for instance, found that mothers in managerial/professional jobs were more likely to breastfeed longer than women who performed service/labor work.
-
Look at infant and maternal health trends. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, rural women are more likely than their urban counterparts to smoke, to be obese, and to say they are in fair or poor health, which raises questions about whether women of reproductive age in rural areas may be more likely to go into pregnancy in poor health.
In part because of hospital closures that took away OBGYN departments, mothers in nonmetropolitan areas of the country may be less likely to receive prenatal care early in their pregnancy, putting them at a higher risk of pregnancy complications such as uncontrolled gestational diabetes and preeclampsia. Lack of quality maternal health care may be associated with high maternal mortality rates in some rural counties.
There is evidence that women of color in rural areas are especially at risk of poor maternal health outcomes. A U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report from September 2021 addressed race and ethnic disparities in maternal health. According to data cited by the authors, Native American and Alaska Native women are among women of color who are disproportionately affected by lack of OGBYNs serving their place of residence and surrounding areas.
Experts on maternal health disparities
-
Adam Burke, Ph.D., assistant professor at Hawai’i Pacific University
-
Kiddada Green, founding executive director of the Black Mothers’ Breastfeeding Association
-
Katy B. Kozhimannil, Ph.D., director of the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center (RHRC)
-
We can’t talk about health status trends without talking about dietary patterns. Look for reports and studies about the quality of the diets of infants, children and teens. This recent analysis suggests that more than 50% of Americans between the ages of 2 and 19 appear to have a poor diet, and this one suggests that Hispanic teens have healthier eating habits than their non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic Black peers.
To give context to the numbers, you’ll want to look at sources on food insecurity, food deserts and participation in state and federal nutrition assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).
-
Health equity trackers, studies, and health reports that include data on income, occupation, health insurance coverage and other social determinants of health rely on surveys from federal agencies such as the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Because some may use outdated information, go straight to the source to get the most current data you need. Call the agency’s media line if you’re on deadline. And if a study is behind a paywall, email the principal author to get a copy for your personal use.
Beyond looking at race, ethnicity, and rural v. urban trends at the national level, you may consider reviewing regional data. If you’re writing a story looking at trends among certain ethnic groups, for example, you may want to compare income, insurance coverage, and other demographic and health data of states with a significant population of that group of Americans. For instance, Hispanic or Latino Americans in Arizona are more likely to be insured than their counterparts in Texas, census data shows.
Margarita Martín-Hidalgo (@mbirnbaumnews) is AHCJ’s Health Equity Core Topic Leader. A Dallas-based independent journalist, Birnbaum’s stories have been published by American Heart Association News and WebMD.
