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Study shows link between food insecurity and higher infant mortality in N.C.

Volunteers organize food for distribution at a pantry. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

A new study indicates there may be a link between food insecurity and higher infant mortality rates in North Carolina.

The study was conducted by scientists at Wake Forest School of Medicine. While the connection between hunger and infant mortality is a problem long associated with developing countries, researchers wanted to determine if it held true domestically.

After reviewing data from all 100 counties in North Carolina, scientists determined that the mean county-level infant mortality rate was about 36 percent higher than the rest of the country, while the average county-level of food insecurity was about 30 percent higher.

Researchers further crunched the numbers to determine that for each 10 percent decrease in food insecurity statewide, about 144 infants would be saved in a year.

Dr. Lisa Cassidy-Vu led the team researching the data. She says the results show that food insecurity needs to be addressed as a serious public health issue, and that infant mortality rates could be improved by simply ensuring that families have enough to eat.

Cassidy-Vu adds that the COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated resource disparities and increased rates of food insecurity, particularly in vulnerable populations.

The study has been published in the journal Public Health Nutrition.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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