Current State of Child Health in Rural America: How Context Shapes Children's Health

• Published in: The Journal of rural health Vol. 34; no. S1; pp. s3 - s12
• Main Authors: Probst, Janice C., Barker, Judith C., Enders, Alexandra, Gardiner, Paula
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.02.2018
• Subjects: Accidents; Body weight; Child; Child Health Services - standards; Child, Preschool; Childhood obesity; Children; Children & youth; children's health; Childrens health; Clinical outcomes; Counties; Disadvantaged; Economic development; Economics; epidemiology; Female; Financial services; Government programs; Health care; Health care policy; health disparities; Health risks; Health services; Health status; Health surveillance; Humans; Infant; Injuries; Male; Medicaid; Medical personnel; Obesity; Oral health; Overweight; Parents; Parents & parenting; Peers; Poverty; Public health; Quality of Health Care - standards; Risk assessment; rural; Rural areas; Rural communities; Rural environments; Rural Population - statistics & numerical data; Rural poverty; social determinants of health; Social Determinants of Health - standards; Social Determinants of Health - statistics & numerical data; Socioeconomic Factors; Surveillance; United States; Urban areas; United States; epidemiology; social determinants of health; health disparities; children's health; rural
• ISSN: 0890-765X; 1748-0361
• DOI: 10.1111/jrh.12222

Purpose Children's health is influenced by the context in which they live. We provide a descriptive essay on the status of children in rural America to highlight features of the rural environment that may affect health. Description We compiled information concerning components of the rural environment that may contribute to health outcomes. Areas addressed include the economic characteristics, provider availability, uniquely rural health risks, health services use, and health outcomes among rural children. Assessment Nearly 12 million children live in the rural United States. Rural counties are economically disadvantaged, leading to higher rates of poverty among rural versus urban children. Rural and urban children are approximately equally likely to be insured, but Medicaid insures a higher proportion of children in rural areas. While generally similar in health, rural children are more likely to be overweight or obese than urban children. Rural parents are less likely to report that their children received preventive medical or oral health visits than urban parents. Rural children are more likely to die than their urban peers, largely due to unintentional injury. Conclusion Improving rural children's health will require both increased public health surveillance and research that creates solutions appropriate for rural environments, where health care professionals may be in short supply. Most importantly, solutions must be multisectoral, engaging education, economic development, and other community perspectives as well as health care.