Racial Disparities in Early Child Health and Development: New Evidence on Prevalence and Mechanisms
Racial disparities in infant health have been well-documented in the United States (US). However, previous studies have only identified a few pathways that explain little of these disparities. Furthermore, not much is known about these disparities in other multiracial countries such as South American countries. The papers in this session investigate new aspects of racial disparities in infant health in several countries using new datasets and thorough approaches and offer several policy-relevant insights. Conway and Trudeau merge detailed data on weather at conception from NASA with the US Natality files to study the effects of sunshine on birth outcomes and heterogeneities in effects by several factors including maternal race. Their findings of important sunshine effects on birth outcomes highlight sunshine as a potential contributor to racial disparities in the US. Wehby and Trujillo investigate racial disparity in multiple aspects of early neurodevelopment in Brazil. Using unique data, they identify substantial disparity that is entirely explained by household characteristics and geographic location. Pawluk et al study racial disparities in birth weight and gestational length and their mechanisms in multiple South American countries using unique and large datasets. They find several disparities between different ethnic ancestries. Their results suggest that these disparities are largely driven by socioeconomic and geographic pathways, but note substantial heterogeneity in disparities and mechanisms by country, ancestry, and health outcome. The findings from these papers are highly relevant for devising specific policies and interventions to reduce racial disparities in infant health and early child development in multiple settings.