Reply #5: Detroit's in sad shape, but infant mortality in US is up everywhere

[Laughing Mirror]

And, for the first time in 40 years. Is this just a "blip" in statistics? Or does this rise in infant mortality for the first time in decades indicate a country with a serious problem in health decline?

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Dec. 6, 2004.

Deaths among children younger than 1 year old increased for the first time in more than 40 years, according to a report, "America's Health: State Health Rankings," published in November. The rate increased from 6.8 per 1,000 in 2001 to 7 per 1,000 in 2002 -- a far cry from the Healthy People 2010 goal of 4.5 per 1,000.

"It's only a little blip, but it's very concerning," said John Kattwinkel, MD, professor of pediatrics at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.mic

The state health rankings report has been published annually for the past 15 years by the United Health Foundation in conjunction with the American Public Health Assn. and the Partnership for Prevention, using data collected from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health agencies.

Experts acknowledged the possibility that the infant mortality uptick could be a fluke, but most believe that it could be the beginning of a true increase, because other related indicators have been headed in the wrong direction for several years, particularly prematurity and low-birth-weight rates.

http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/12/06/hlsb1206.htm