Health Problems of Infants and Preschool Children: Report of a Study

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Abstract
This paper describes a study of mortality and morbidity in infants and preschool children in Minneapolis. The mortality data show that congenital malformations, accidents, pneumonia and influenza, and cancer and leukemia are the major causes of death in postneonatal infants and preschool children. The morbidity data show that 29.4% of the infants and children had one health problem, 6.7% had 2 health problems, and 0.6 had 3 health problems, or an over-all of 36.7% with health problems. Children having a higher frequency of health problems include those in the age level 49 to 60 months, the nonwhites, and the males. The most common health problems identified included skin and respiratory disease, with cardiovascular, orthopedic, genitourinary, allergy and nutrition appearing next in frequency. The most frequent individual health problems were respiratory infection, diaper rash and other skin conditions, and umbilical hernia. Eight per cent of the children had had an accident since the last visit; accidents were more frequent in males; falls were most frequent, followed by burns and ingestion. There was a lower attendance of infants and of preschool children over the age of 36 months; the late preschool drop-off was greater in the nonwhite. Sixteen per cent of the children had missed their previous conference appointment, the most frequent cause of which was acute illness. The paper also discussed the use of data derived from this study in program planning and in identifying leads for further studies.

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