A study calls on Americans to do ?everything possible? to address these ?preventable deaths? In a chilling study that looks at the child mortality rates of 20 wealthy democratic nations, U.S. kids fared worst out of all the countries. Our cars are partially to blame: American children are twice as likely to die from motor vehicle accident in the US than in other wealthy nations.
The study, published in Health Affairs this month, compared child mortality rates in 20 wealthy, democratic countries since 1960. Over the last half century, the rate of childhood death decreased in all nations except the U.S. A child born in the United States today has a 70 percent greater chance of dying before age 20 than in those countries.
?All U.S. policymakers, pediatric health professionals, child health advocates, and families should be troubled by these findings,? reads the study. ?The findings should motivate Americans to do everything possible to improve the medical and social conditions of children that are responsible for these preventable deaths.? As Vox reports, the study?s authors attribute the U.S.?s high child mortality rate to its ?fragmented? health care system, with insufficient preventative treatment due to lack of coverage and high childhood poverty rates in certain regions. Access to guns is highlighted as a ?disturbing disparity? as teenagers are 82 times more likely to die from gun violence in the U.S.
But the motor vehicle deaths are cited as particularly preventab...