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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Children and youth

Are Rural Infants Benefiting from WIC Food Package Rule Changes? Breastfeeding and Infant Feeding Behaviors
Examines if 2009 revisions to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) changed breastfeeding and infant feeding practices among rural and urban WIC participants. Compares breastfeeding initiation rates and the age infants were introduced to solid foods in rural and urban areas. Discusses implications for future policies to promote breastfeeding and healthy infant feeding practices.
Author(s): Ariun Ishdorj, Hongyang Di, Elfreda Samman, Lisako McKyer
Date: 02/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
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Understanding and Addressing the Drivers of Infant Mortality in Maine
Overview of infant mortality data for Maine between 2000 and 2017. Includes county-level data as well as rural and urban comparisons. Discusses causes of mortality, risk factors, challenges for rural residents in the Maine healthcare system, social determinants of health, and more. Makes recommendations for decreasing infant mortality with specific recommendations for rural.
Author(s): Katherine Flaherty
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
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Native American Youth Citizen Scientists Uncovering Community Health and Food Security Priorities
Details a study on food security and nutrition via community-based participatory research by a group of 13-18 year olds in the Karuk Tribe in rural northern California. Explores findings related to community gardens, school food quality, and food gathering and preservation, among other issues.
Author(s): Katherine K. Kim, Victoria Ngo, Grant Gilkison, et al.
Citation: Health Promotion Practice, 21(1), 80-90
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
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Household Endotoxin Reduction in the Louisa Environmental Intervention Project for Rural Childhood Asthma
Describes environmental interventions, including cleaning and education, to reduce endotoxin exposure for rural Iowa children with asthma. Data represents endotoxin loads and participant characteristics. Discusses endotoxin's effects on asthma symptoms and the potential for endotoxin reduction to improve those symptoms, particularly in farm homes.
Author(s): Angelico Mendy, Nervana Metwali, Sarah S. Perry, et al.
Citation: Indoor Air: International Journal of Indoor Environment and Health, 30(1), 88-97
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
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Infants Without Health Insurance: Racial/Ethnic and Rural/Urban Disparities in Infant Households' Insurance Coverage
Explores how the uneven expansion of Medicaid affects the racial/ethnic health insurance coverage for infants across rural and urban areas in the U.S. Highlights spatial patterns in health insurance coverage among infants, and examines the probability that an infant will be born without health insurance coverage using 2011-2015 American Community Survey (ACS) data and logistic regression.
Author(s): Scott R. Sanders, Michael R. Cope, Paige N. Park, Wesley Jeffery, Jorden E. Jackson
Citation: PLoS ONE, 15(1)
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
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Many Rural Americans Are Still "Left Behind"
An overview of trends in rural poverty from 1959 through 2016. Discusses how rural and urban poverty are different. Highlights changes in education and employment, the impact of race/ethnicity, and data on rural child poverty.
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Institute for Research on Poverty
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Addressing Obesity in Nebraska's Youth: Water Consumption in Schools
Report details an effort to promote water consumption as a replacement for sugary beverages in order to combat obesity in Nebraska schools. Highlights ways the state has increased access to water fountains and water bottle filling stations. Compares rates of obesity to other states for children and adults.
Author(s): Jon M. Bailey
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Affairs
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Supporting the Mental Health Well-being of High School Students
Report evaluates the perceived need for school-based mental health services and the levels of access to those services by rural students and students of color. Bases results on surveys of high school students and makes corresponding recommendations. Compares the access to mental health services in rural, urban, and suburban schools.
Additional links: Infographic
Author(s): Michelle Croft, Shannon Hayes, Raeal Moore
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: ACT Center for Equity in Learning
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Expecting More: Addressing America's Maternal and Infant Health Crisis
Provides recording and witness testimony from the U.S. House of Representatives' Joint Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions and Workforce Protections Hearing on maternal mortality and disparities in maternal and infant care. Testimony includes some discussion of maternity care in rural areas.
Additional links: Joia Crear Perry Testimony, Stacey D. Stewart Testimony, Video of Hearing
Date: 01/2020
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: U.S. House of Representatives
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QuickStats: Infant Mortality Rates For Metro and Nonmetro Counties, by Race and Hispanic Origin — National Vital Statistics System, United States, 2017
Bar chart showing metropolitan and nonmetro infant mortality rates for infants of non-Hispanic White mothers, non-Hispanic Black mothers, and Hispanic mothers.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 69(3), 95
Date: 01/2020
Type: Chart/Graph
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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