Original Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/13/health/infant-mortality-mississippi/index.html?hpt=us_c2
This article talks in brief about the tragedy of the Dykes family: a family living Mississippi who lost their their prematurely born child in 2008. Mississippi ranks 50th out of 50 in all the states for highest mortality rate. We all know that the southern states of America have a bad reputation, and the truth is, its all true. They have the worst mortality rate, a high rate of obesity, a low annual income, etc. A question this articles asks is "What role does race play?". This is a good question because the south is thought to be still quite racist and 40% of infants are born to black women in Mississippi. Some people speculate that the reason the mortality rate is so high can be caused by high rates of obesity. If the mother is not healthy, that can easily lead to a risky birth. Another factor that can lead to unhealthy births would be drug and/or alcohol use.
Mortality rate is the rate of how many children survive to see their first birthday. Mississippi has a mortality rate of 9.4, which means that on average, out of 1,000 babies born, 9.4 will die before their first birthday. This is an appalling statistic. Especially for such a huge country like America. This mortality rate is more on par with countries like Sri Lanka and Botswana.
The south has a lot of problems. These are fixable problems, but the sheer size of them make them difficult to overcome. Death is always tragic but especially so when it comes to infants. America needs to work to fix this major problem.
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