Infant Mortality Rate Highest Among Rural Poor

Babies born to poor mothers in rural areas have a 50% greater chance of dying than infants in the rest of the country, a private consumer group said in a preliminary report released Thursday.

The study of the poorest 85 counties in the United States showed that in 1983, for example, the infant mortality rate among rural poor was 16.29 per 1,000 live births, compared to 10.89 per 1,000 births nationally.

Public Voice for Food and Health Policy said its study, financed by the Ford Foundation, showed also that babies in poor, rural areas tended to weigh less.