Report sheds light on uninsured, child health care in Gaston

May 19-- May 19--About 20,000 people in Gaston County don't have health insurance -- and that includes about 6% of children.

The report comes from the nonprofit NC Child, a Raleigh-based advocacy group that advocates for better socioeconomic, health and educational opportunities for the state's youngest residents. The nonprofit analyzed information from across the state to provide data cards for each county.

In Gaston County, there are about 65,000 children, about 31% of whom are 6 and younger. In general, more women are receiving early prenatal care, slightly fewer kids live in low-income homes, and there were fewer child deaths here in 2017, the most recent year for which data was provided.

Here are some key takeaways for Gaston County:

Early care

The report says 67% of pregnant women got prenatal care here in 2017, up from 63.1% in 2016. Slightly more babies were born with a low birth weight -- 9.5% in 2017 up from 9.3% in 2016 -- and pre-term births decreased slightly from 9.9% to 9.7%.

Yvonne Boafo, a data analyst for Gaston Health and Human Services, says there's also been a drop in the number of women using tobacco while pregnant, from about 20% to about 16% from 2013-2016. There's also an increase in the number of women breastfeeding -- roughly 73% in 2016 compared to about 69% in 2013.

"The county should continue to educate the population about some of the dangers in regard to smoking during pregnancy and some of the risk factors we can control individually," Boafo said.

Department spokeswoman Brittain Kenney says there are resources available for women and men, including health coverage, for family planning and prenatal care.

"If women are healthy when they're pregnant, they're going to have healthier babies," she said.

Economic security

Fifty percent of children here lived in low-income homes in 2017, down two percent in 2016. About 22% of kids were in food-insecure homes in 2016, down from about 24% in 2015. The median income, meanwhile, is trending slightly upward, from $44,288 from 2012-21016 to $46,626 from 2013-2017.

Homes

Gaston County had roughly 10 children per 1,000 in foster care in 2017, up by less than 1% from 2016. About 94 kids per 1,000 were assessed for abuse or neglect in 2017, up from about 85 in 1,000 in 2016. And slightly more teenagers gave birth -- 9 per 1,000 in 2017 compared to 8 per 1,00 in 2016.

The county is in the midst of what local health officials call a foster care "crisis." Just a few months ago, the county reported having hundreds of children in care but only a few dozen new foster homes available.

Education

Fifty-two percent of third-grade students could read at a proficient level in the 2017-2018 school year, up 1% from the previous school year, and 86% of high school students graduated on time in 2018 -- a slight dip from 88 percent in 2017. Roughly 21% of county residents had at least a bachelor's degree in 2017, up about 1% from the year before.

Overall health

Nearly 7% of children in Gaston County didn't have health insurance in 2017, a reduction of less than 1% from 2016. Infant mortality was nearly 6 per 1,000 in 2017, a similarly small decrease from 2016. Overall, there were nearly 57 child deaths per 1,000 in 2017, down from 59 per 1,000 the year before.

Donna Elliott, executive director of HealthNet Gaston, says not having health insurance can lead to a downward spiral. HealthNet offers coverage for adults who make $12,000 a year or less, and she says the program serves more people every year. One of the major issues Elliott sees is that uninsured people will delay going to a doctor for routine checkups, resulting in serious conditions being diagnosed in late stages during trips to the emergency room.

Not catching a serious condition early on can lead to more expensive treatment and worse health outcomes.

"Their health gets worse and worse, then they can't work," Elliott said. "It's just a vicious cycle. Things just go down, down, down."

Go to ncchild.org to learn more.

You can reach Dashiell Coleman at 704-869-1819 or on Twitter @DashiellColeman

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