The Associations between Enrollment Duration and Health Outcomes among Migrant Head Start Children

Abstract

This study examined the association between enrollment duration and health treatment outcomes among migrant Head Start children. Children (n = 1,399) were divided into two groups: those who enrolled for 1 year and those who enrolled more than 2 years. Health treatment outcomes were preventative dental treatment, asthma treatment, hearing/vision, and anemia/high lead level treatment. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine whether enrollment duration has any association with health treatment outcomes. Child and family baseline variables were examined for their association with enrollment duration. Children who were enrolled more than 2 years were likely to be older, to live with two parents, to speak Spanish at home, to receive supplemental nutritional assistance program, to live in a higher family income household, to have reliable transportation and to stay in the program for more weeks. Longer enrollment duration has a positive association with preventative dental treatment, asthma treatment, and hearing/vision treatment. Thus, active recruitment through interagency collaborations for children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers needs to be done to promote earlier and longer enrollment duration for the migrant Head Start program. A future study needs to be done on the barriers to health care treatment services among migrant children.