A Closer Look at Race Differentials in California's Infant Mortality, 1965-67

Abstract

within the California State department of Public Health have prompted a review of race differentials in California's infant mortality as measured by the State's vital statistics.The first concern is the strikingly low infant death rates for Americans of Chinese and Japa- nese descent, which have long been noted in the available vital statistics for both California and the United States.Their 1967 rates (table 1) are among the lowest recorded in the world today, yet little effort has been made to explain them.Of the U.S. live births, 44 percent of the Chinese and 40 percent of the Japanese are in California.If the low infant death rates among the oriental races are valid, it is desirable for epidemiologists in the State bureau of maternal and child health to ex- amine California's vital data with particular atten-