U.S. ranks last in health and safety

I read this story on babycenter.com, not surprising about the safety angle, especially when we are being compared to big extended RF countries.

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Report: U.S. and Britain rank last in child well-being
TUESDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) — The United States and Great Britain were ranked second to last and last, respectively, in a UNICEF report released Wednesday that looked at the well-being of children in 21 industrialized countries, the Associated Press reported.

Countries at the top of the list were European nations with strong social welfare systems — the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.

The rankings were based on six measures: material well-being, health and safety, education, peer and family relationships, behaviors and risks, and youngsters' own subjective sense of well-being, the AP reported.

In the health and safety category, the United States came last. That category looks at rates of infant death, low birth weight, immunization, and deaths from accidents and injuries.

The fact that the United States and Britain were ranked below countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary shows that a nation's overall wealth alone does not guarantee a child's well-being, the report authors said.

-- HealthDay News

i heard about that study. very interesting, but not surprising at all. those countries have socialized medicine, education, and also housing. hardly anyone there is in poverty or homeless. european nations also have a tendency to still have strong extended family relationships, so strong family values.

however, i don't think the US came last in the health and safety category because of our lack of extended RFing... my guess is that it had more to do with violent crime as well as lack of proper prenatal and postnatal care for people without adequate income or healthcare.

The fact that the United States and Britain were ranked below countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary shows that a nation's overall wealth alone does not guarantee a child's well-being, the report authors said.

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that is so very true