Reproduced, with pemission, from:Poverty and illness are particularly severe problems for black children in the United States. The U.S. infant mortality rate is higher than those of 21 other industrialized countries; black babies in the U.S. are twice as likely to die as white babies. Since 1980, no progress has been made in reducing the incidence of low birthweight babies; for blacks, the rate has actually increased (3).
While developing countries have made spectacular progress in immunizing childhood diseases, with average immunization levels improving from 15 percent to about 80 percent, this has not happened in the United States. In 1990, only about 70 percent of U.S. children were immunized against measles, mumps, and rubella; in many inner cities only about one half of young children were protected. In 1990, more than 26,000 cases of measles were reported, sharply higher than the 3,000-case average in 1981--88; most cases were among children in poor, inner-city families. Cases of rubella and whooping cough are unknown because the federal government suspended data collection in 1985 (4).
At least 10 to 15 percent of children in the United States suffer from chronic or disabling conditions such as genetic or metabolic disorders, birth defects, trauma, premature birth, or infection. Increasingly common conditions include respiratory diseases, mental and nervous disorders (at least 10 percent of children suffer from serious mental health disorders, including autism and depression), and orthopedic and sensory impairments. An estimated 12 million American children, mostly poor children, are at risk of lead poisoning (5).
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