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You are here:   Home → Social Environment → Infant Mortality Rates
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Indicator: Infant Mortality Rates

Data and Data Discussion provided by Communities Count

Figure 1: Infant Death Rates in King County, Three Year Rolling Averages 1990-2003

Figure 3: Infant Mortality Rate by Race/Ethnicity

Figure 2: Infant Death Rates in King County by Region

Figure 4: Infant Mortality Rate by Neighborhood Poverty Level

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Upstream Indicators
  •   Income Distribution --- In the two decades between 1979 and 1999, there was a shift of income away from the four lower income groups to the highest income group. In King County in 2004, the richest 20% of the population received more than ten times the income of the poorest 20%.  (view data graph)
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Downstream Indicators
  •   Prevalence of Overweight & Obese Adults --- The proportion of King County adults who are overweight and obese continues to climb. In 2006, almost one in five adults were obese and more than half were overweight. Nearly nine percent of school age children were overweight.  (view data graph)
  •   School Readiness --- School districts in King County are in the process of implementing the Early Development Instrument (EDI) survey in order to provide their communities with evidence of how ready for school their kindergarten-age children are. To date only 3 school districts have carried out the EDI survey, Bellevue and Shoreline School Districts in 2004 and Highline School District in 2005.   (view data graph)
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Sustainability Snapshot:

Despite substantial reductions infant mortality during the past several decades, disparities in infant mortality rates persist. Infant death reflects the health, education, lifestyle and nutrition of pregnant women, the support system of the community, as well as the availability of intensive medical care for infants. Disparity in infant mortality rates between high and low poverty neighborhoods has continued over the last 15 years and currently is as large as it has been over that time period.

Sustainability Trend:

Infant death rates declined throughout the 1980s and 1990s but in more recent years appear to have leveled off for most of King County and for most race/ethnic groups. The rate in Seattle continues to decline.

Data Discussion

The Indicator Defined

Infant Death Rates in King County, Three Year Rolling Averages 1990-2003. The infant death rate is the number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births in a given year.

Data Interpretation/Evaluation

Infant death rates have declined since the early 1980s in King County. In 2003, there were 114 deaths of infants under one year of age in King County.

Three of the four King County regions have shown declining rates - Seattle, East Region, and South Region. (Figure 1) In the most recent 5 year period, 1999 – 2003, trends in infant death rates have not been detected in East, South, and North Regions and in King County overall. The rate continues to decline in Seattle. (Figure 2) The most recent average regional infant death rate in East Region is lower than Seattle, South Region and King County as a whole.

While historically there has been a significant decrease in the rates for whites, African Americans and Asian/Pacific Islanders, trends for the last five years have leveled out for all race/ethnic groups. (Figure 3) Infant death rates among African Americans and American Indian/Alaska Natives remain higher than the rates for other groups.

Trends in infant death rates for the smaller race and ethnic populations are difficult to evaluate when the number of births and deaths is also relatively small. The apparent increase in rates among American Indian/Alaska Natives between 1997 and 2003 is not statistically significant. During this period there was an average of 4 infant deaths per year in this group, making the rates statistically unstable. While not statistically significant, these rates are being closely monitored.

There are disparities in infant death rates by neighborhood level of poverty. In areas where less than 5% of the population lives below the poverty level, rates are lower than in areas with 20% or more of the population below the poverty level. (Figure 4) Infant mortality rates in areas with less than 5% and with 5-19% of the population living below the poverty level declined in the early 1990s but trends have recently leveled out.

The average infant death rate between 2001 and 2003 was higher among children born to women less than 20 years old (9.7 per 1,000 live births) than to women older than 20 (4.6 per 1,000 live births - data not shown).

Data Source and Limitations

Data was contributed by Communities Count (www.communitiescount.org).  The original linked Birth and Death Certificate data are from the Washington State Department of Health, Center for Health Statistics.

The infant mortality rate is the number of live-born infants who die before their first birthday in a given year, for every 1,000 infants born live in that year.

Poverty level groupings are based on annual household income reported in the 2000 U.S. Census, and these groupings represent the proportion of residents living below the federal poverty limit at that time. For a family of four in 1999, the poverty threshold was $17,029; for a single person over age 65, it was $7,990.

The geographic boundaries of King County, the four regions, and the high, medium and low poverty areas are defined by aggregating census tracts or block groups used in the 2000 census.

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