Maternal and Perinatal Health Disparities Among Middle Eastern and North African Women and Children in the United States

Abstract

Introduction: Few studies have evaluated the health of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) women and children in the United States. Objectives were to determine the odds of well-visits, preventive behaviors during pregnancy, and low birthweight among foreign-born non-Hispanic MENA women and children compared to their US-and foreign-born non-Hispanic White counterparts after adjusting for covariates (hereafter, reported as MENA and White).Methods: We analyzed 2000. Outcomes included well-woman visits (past 12 months); dentist visits (past 6 months) and current smoking among pregnant women; and low, moderately low, and very low birthweight among children. Covariates included age, family income, and health insurance for children. Education and marital status were also evaluated among women.Results: Over half (53.4%) of foreign-born MENA women were of childbearing age (ages 18-45) compared to 47.7% US-born and 43.2% foreign-born White women. The odds of completing a well-women visit were 0.73 times lower (95% CI=0.38-0.89) among foreign-born MENA women compared to US-born White women after adjusting for age, education, and marital status. There was no statistically signi cant difference in dental visits between groups. No foreign-born MENA pregnant women reported current smoking. Foreign-born MENA children had higher odds of low (OR=1.65; 95% CI=1.16-2.35) and moderately low birthweight (OR=1.78; 95% CI=1.19-2.66) compared to US-born White children in adjusted models.Discussion: MENA women and children are classi ed as White by the federal government. Our results highlight that the health of foreign-born MENA women and children differ from their White counterparts. Signi canceWhat is already known on this subject? National studies have evaluated maternal and perinatal health among racial and ethnic minority groups; however, none have presented results among Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) women and children. The few studies that have evaluated MENA maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes have provided only state and local estimates. What this study adds?This study provides nationally representative baseline data on the maternal and perinatal health of foreign-born MENA women and children. This is the rst study to examine oral health among pregnant MENA women compared to US-and foreign-born pregnant White women.

Mental health and care seeking patterns of Middle Eastern and North African immigrant children in the United States

“…Few studies have used nationally representative data to examine health among MENA children. A recent study using NHIS data found that foreign-born MENA children were more likely to have low birth weight than their White counterparts [15]; yet, to our knowledge, no studies have been published that examine the mental health patterns of MENA children on a national scale. In 2024, the OMB revised its SPD 15 guidelines and will require all national health surveys and surveillance systems that are federally funded to include a separate checkbox for MENA Americans as a minimum reporting category by 2029 [10].…”

“…Foreign-born MENA children can be compared to their US-and foreign-born White counterparts by combining responses to questions assessing race, ethnicity, and nativity status. This method has been used extensively for over 20 years to examine the health of MENA adults [12,13,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32], and the literature has recently expanded to focus on health outcomes among MENA children [15]. Our foreignborn MENA group includes non-Hispanic White children born in countries located in the Middle East and Africa.…”