Children of farm workers are three times as likely as all other children and almost twice as likely as other poor children to be uninsured, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Children of farm workers face a variety of health challenges, according to background information in the article. Most are Latino, a group that already has suboptimal access to pediatric health services. In addition, Mexican American migrant children who move around the United States with their farm-worker parents are two to three times more likely to be rated in poor or fair health than non-migrant Mexican American children. Farm workers' children are often exposed to pesticides and are more likely to engage in dangerous agricultural work themselves.
"Health insurance improves children's access to and use of health care services, making children's health insurance an important proxy for children's health care access," the authors write. Roberto L. Rodriguez, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Texas Medical Branch-Austin and Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas and colleagues analyzed results of a national survey of 3,136 farm workers with children younger than 18 years. The parents reported demographic and social characteristics along with the health insurance status of their children (all of whom lived in the United States).
Among the farm-worker parents, 32 percent reported that their children were uninsured, including 45 percent of migrant-worker parents. Parents who were older, had less education, had spent less time in the United States and who lived in the Southeast or Southwest were more likely to have uninsured children.