Open AccessThe perinatal and infant health status of Native Hawaiians.
Author(s) -
Edith C. Kieffer,
Joanne M. Mor,
Greg R. Alexander
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.84.9.1501
Subject(s) - native hawaiians , infant mortality , demography , medicine , low birth weight , environmental health , pregnancy , public health , prenatal care , population , pacific islanders , nursing , sociology , biology , genetics
Hawaii vital record data for 1979 through 1990 were analyzed to examine potentially differing relationships between maternal and infant risks and outcomes in native Hawaiian and White infants. Despite high rates of inadequate prenatal care and teenage and unmarried childbearing, the Hawaiian low-birth-weight rate was below the US average. Hawaiian infants experienced an elevated risk of mortality, particularly among those of normal birthweight during the postneonatal period. Public health initiatives to reduce infant mortality must go beyond preventing teenage pregnancy and low birthweight to address Hawaiian infants' unique pattern of risk factors and the social and economic environment in which such risks abound.