The health attitudes of young Hispanic women and the health status of their children on the Texas-Mexico border.

Abstract

In this paper our objective was to identify child health problems as observed by young Hispanic mothers living along the Texas-Mexico border. Samples of 300 young Hispanic women living in each of the twin cities of El Paso and Juarez were interviewed regarding their knowledge, attitudes, and experiences with respect to birth control, pregnancy, maternal and child health, and health care services. Only 35 women in El Paso and 50 in Juarez were ever pregnant and their attitudes toward health issues were compared to the never pregnant women. Those with living children were also asked about the health problems they had observed in their children. The results indicate that the ever pregnant women were more positive toward both family planning and child bearing than were their never-pregnant peers. The ever-pregnant women were also less confident in family planning techniques. The mothers in Juarez generally reported more observed illness symptoms in their children than did the El Paso mothers.