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Researchers report in areas with greater numbers of Christian fundamentalists, infant mortality rates are higher than in areas with more mainstream Christians. The study reveals external factors such as lack of social support, birth defects, poverty and lack of insurance, in addition to religious conviction, are the main reasons for the increased mortality rates.
The odds of an infant dying before their first birthday are higher in counties with greater proportions of conservative Protestants, especially fundamentalists, than in counties with more mainline Protestants and Catholics, according to a new Portland State University study The study, published online in May in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, supports the idea that the more insular, anti-institutional culture of fundamentalists can lead to poorer health outcomes.
Ginny Garcia-Alexander, a sociology professor in PSU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the study's lead author, examined the influence of religion on postneonatal infant mortality rates, or the number of deaths from four weeks through the first year, using data from 1990 through 2010. Garcia-Alexander said a leading cause of infant death in the first 28 days is birth defects, which can be heavily influenced by advances in medical knowledge and technology. By contrast, deaths in the next 11 months of life are more often linked to external factors such as poverty, lack of insurance, social support networks and religion.
Garcia-Alexander said the findings mirror trends seen in adult mortality rates, where areas with more mainline Protestants and Catholics had better health outcomes than areas with more conservative Protestants.
The study's findings build on previous research that says that Catholicism and mainline Protestantism are civically minded, externally oriented faiths that emphasize community-level care. For example, church-affiliated hospitals and social-service providers such as Catholic Charities can bolster the health infrastructure of local communities.
Source: https://neurosciencenews.com/infant-mortality-fundamentalism-9165/
(Score: 5, Interesting) by choose another one on Tuesday June 19 2018, @04:07PM (8 children)
Non-fundie: Oh no, health checks show my unborn child is going to be stillborn, fatally deformed or severely disabled, maybe I should have a termination. Guess what doesn't show on the death statistics?
Fundie: Health checks? Pah, baby's gonna come anyway and God will decide if it lives or dies. Guess what does show up on mortality statistics?
Now, what would be really interesting is to add the abortion stats from the relevant areas into these numbers and look again. I bet there is some balancing off, particularly with the deaths before 28 days.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 19 2018, @04:14PM (1 child)
You're a moron.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 19 2018, @04:16PM
No, you're projecting. Read the post again, give it some thought, and try again with less partisan trolling.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday June 19 2018, @05:53PM (1 child)
Non-fundie: Oh no, health checks show my unborn child is going to be stillborn, fatally deformed or severely disabled, maybe I should have a termination. Guess what doesn't show on the death statistics?
Fundie: Health checks? Pah, baby's gonna come anyway and God will decide if it lives or dies. Guess what does show up on mortality statistics?
That begs the question of whether the Non-fundies actually have fewer abortions.
I've experienced enough hypocrisy out of those folks that I'd want to see some data on that assumption before conceding it.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday June 19 2018, @05:55PM
Sorry...begs the question that the Fundies have fewer abortions...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Thexalon on Tuesday June 19 2018, @06:12PM
A fair number of the anti-vax nutjobs are fundamentalist Christians. And guess what? If you don't vaccinate your kids, they can die of the diseases you didn't vaccinate them against. All because you were scared of modern science with its scary-sounding hard-to-pronounce words based on Latin and Greek.
Not that that's a new problem: People have been refusing medical treatment on religious grounds for decades, and dying as a result.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 19 2018, @06:42PM (2 children)
Oh really... well, you asked for it.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/13/whos-driving-high-abortion-rates-religious-right [theguardian.com]
You see, the more you outlaw abortion and sex education, the more (illegal) abortions you get. If that wasn't the case, we would be extinct by now. Perhaps think long and hard about that.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 19 2018, @06:54PM (1 child)
So, the poster asked for "abortion stats from the relevant areas" in regard to Christian fundamentalists, and you post about Eastern Africa?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 20 2018, @06:35AM
Eastern Africa seems to be quite Christian fundamentalists, no?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Africa#Religious_distribution [wikipedia.org]
It seems easy for people to dismiss inconvenient reality, but it's still reality. Not having access to birth control and making talking about sex as taboo, all you get is more unplanned pregnancies which will result in more unnecessary abortions.