An Examination of the Perceived Importance and Skills Related to Policies and Policy Making Among State Public Health Injury Prevention Staff

The purpose of this research is to use the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey to assess in greater detail state injury prevention staff perceptions of policy development and related skills and their awareness and perception of “Health in All Policies” (HiAP)

Autism Spectrum Disorder Among US Children (2002–2010): Socioeconomic, Racial, and Ethnic Disparities

Objectives. To describe the association between indicators of socioeconomic status (SES) and the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the United States during the period 2002 to 2010, when overall ASD prevalence among children more than doubled, and to determine whether SES disparities account for ongoing racial and ethnic disparities in ASD prevalence

Racial/ethnic and educational inequities in restrictive abortion policy variation and adverse birth outcomes in the United States

Background To examine racial/ethnic and educational inequities in the relationship between state-level restrictive abortion policies and adverse birth outcomes from 2005 to 2015 in the United States. Methods Using a state-level abortion restrictiveness index comprised of 18 restrictive abortion policies, we conducted a retrospective longitudinal analysis examining whether race/ethnicity and education level moderated the relationship between the restrictiveness index and individual-level probabilities of preterm birth (PTB) and low birthweight (LBW). Data were obtained from the 2005–2015 National Center for Health Statistics Period Linked Live Birth-Infant Death Files and analyzed with linear probability models adjusted for individual- and state-level characteristics and state and year fixed-effects. Results Among 2,250,000 live births, 269,253 (12.0%) were PTBs and 182,960 (8.1%) were LBW. On average, states had approximately seven restrictive abortion policies enacted from 2005 to 2015. Black individuals experienced increased probability of PTB with additional exposure to restrictive abortion policies compared to non-Black individuals. Similarly, those with less than a college degree experienced increased probability of LBW with additional exposure to restrictive abortion policies compared to college graduates. For all analyses, inequities worsened as state environments grew increasingly restrictive. Conclusion Findings demonstrate that Black individuals at all educational levels and those with fewer years of education disproportionately experienced adverse birth outcomes associated with restrictive abortion policies. Restrictive abortion policies may compound existing racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and intersecting racial/ethnic and socioeconomic perinatal and infant health inequities

The healthy migrant theory: Variations in pregnancy outcomes among US-born migrants

Various studies have observed that infants born to foreign-born women have better birth outcomes (lower rates of preterm, low birth weight, and infant mortality) than those delivered to US-born women. While much attention has been given to the "healthy migrant effect" as an explanation for these positive outcomes, this theory has not been examined in an internally migrant population. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between maternal mobility history and birth outcomes among infants born to US resident mothers of Mexican origin. The study used 1995-1999 National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) live birth/infant death cohort files of singleton infants delivered in the US to white women of Mexican origin (n=2,446,253). Maternal mobility history (MMH), which refers to the relationship between the maternal place of birth and the state of residence at delivery, was categorized into the four following groups: (a) foreign-born--place of birth outside the US and delivery in the US; (b) outside-region--place of birth in one US region and delivery in another US region; (c) within-region--place of birth in one US region and delivery in a different state in the same US region; and (d) within-state--place of birth and delivery in the same US state. Consistently, there is evidence to support the healthy migrant effect in an internally migrant population. Unique to this study are the findings that infants born to mothers with outside-region MMH had a lower risk of low birth weight (LBW) and small-for-gestational age (SGA) compared to those who did not move. Overall, this study provides evidence that the healthy migrant effect and its relationship to birth outcomes can be applied to an internally migrant population.USA Residential mobility Healthy migrant Low birth weight Preterm birth Mexican American

Ecosystem Services and small-holder farming practices - between payments, development support and right- an integrated approach

Small-scale farmers in north-central Namibia face numerous challenges, ranging from low crop yields, high rainfall variability and land degradation which is threatening the long-term productivity of the land, to social changes that are reducing the work force available for farming. This paper aims to assess existing land use practices (LUPs) and to determine their relationship to ecosystem services (ES). As agriculture (crop and livestock farming) is the dominant land use in northern Namibia, it is the main driver influencing environmental services and will be in the focus here. We suggest ways of combining an improvement of provisioning services (especially food production and thus livelihoods of small-scale farmers) together with regulating services (e.g. climate regulation through carbon storage and soil fertility conservation) to create multiple benefits at the landscape level. In addition to identifying suitable LUPs, we argue that any activity trying to improve ES should count on the already existing initiatives and interventions and look for synergies and complementarities. Considering biodiversity, food security and carbon sequestration together, provides the opportunities of combining local and international goals at the same time and gives people the right to development support instead of making them receivers of aid

Ecosystem services and small-holder farming practices-between payments, development support and right-an integrated approach

The Integrated Land Management Institute (ILMI) is a centre of the Faculty of Natural Resources and Spatial Sciences (FNRSS) at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), committed to developing reputable and multidisciplinary research and public outreach activities in the fields of land administration, property, architecture, and spatial planning. The Land, Livelihoods and Housing Programme aims at deepening and expanding the focus on these three key issues in Namibia. This thematic approach seeks to reflect the wide-ranging skills exiting at the FNRSS, and was developed to guide ILMI’s activities during the 2014-18 period. The programme is organised in four aspects: institutional, environmental, fiscal and spatial processes

Prevalence of Selected Birth Defects by Maternal Nativity Status, United States, 1999–2007

Objectives: We investigated differences in prevalence of major birth defects by maternal nativity within racial/ethnic groups for 27 major birth defects. Methods: Data from 11 population-based birth defects surveillance systems in the United States including almost 13 million live births (approximately a third of U.S. births) during 1999–2007 were pooled. We calculated prevalence estimates for each birth defect for five racial/ethnic groups. Using Poisson regression, crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) were also calculated using births to US-born mothers as the referent group in each racial/ethnic group. Results: Approximately 20% of case mothers and 26% of all mothers were foreign-born. Elevated aPRs for infants with foreign-born mothers were found for spina bifida and trisomy 13, 18, and 21, while lower prevalence patterns were found for pyloric stenosis, gastroschisis, and hypospadias. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that birth defects prevalence varies by nativity within race/ethnic groups, with elevated prevalence ratios for some specific conditions and lower prevalence for others. More detailed analyses focusing on a broader range of maternal behaviors and characteristics are required to fully understand the implications of our findings

The Role of Socio-economic Status and Perinatal Factors in Racial Disparities in the Risk of Cerebral Palsy

Aim: To determine whether racial disparities in cerebral palsy (CP) risk among US children persist after controlling for socio-economic status (SES) (here indicated by maternal education) and perinatal risk factors. Method: A population-based birth cohort study was conducted using the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network surveillance and birth data for 8-year-old children residing in multi-county areas in Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, and Wisconsin between 2002 and 2008. The birth cohort comparison group included 458 027 children and the case group included 1570 children with CP, 1202 with available birth records. χ2 tests were performed to evaluate associations and logistic regression was used to calculate relative risks (RR) and adjusted odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: The risk of spastic CP was more than 50% higher for black versus white children (RR 1.52, 95% CI 1.33–1.73), and this greater risk persisted after adjustment for SES (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.18–1.55), but not after further adjustment for preterm birth and size for gestational age. The protective effect of maternal education remained after adjustment for race/ethnicity and perinatal factors. Interpretation: Maternal education appears to independently affect CP risk but does not fully explain existing racial disparities in CP prevalence in the US