Racial/ethnic differences in child health status in Iowa

The health status of Iowa's children was assessed using the 2005 Iowa Child and Family Household Health Survey. The survey was a population-based statewide household telephone survey with a combination of random digit dial and targeted phone numbers that yielded 3863 cases including 331 African-American and Hispanic children. Questions were answered by the ‘adult most knowledgeable about the health and well-being' of one randomly chosen child in the household. A Spanish version of the survey was used for households that chose to complete the survey in Spanish. The sample was predominantly white (89%), followed by 5% African-American, 3% Hispanic English interview (HEI), and 3% Hispanic Spanish interview (HSI). Children's health status was assessed by four measures: overall health status; dental health status; having a special health care need (CSHCN); and asthma. Multinomial and binary logistic regression suggest that explanatory variables for health and dental health status include: being in the HSI group, age, and health-related behavior, along with parents' characteristics such as parenting stress, smoking status, income, and education. Likewise, increased odds of being a CSHCN were found for the HSI group, younger children, those with public insurance, and parents' characteristics including parenting stress, and household size. Explanatory variables predicting significantly higher odds of having asthma were: being African-American, and children in younger age groups only. Overall, children in the HSI group had lower health status on all measures except asthma. Further research should evaluate best practices for improving health status in families that are primarily Spanish speaking.