AT high risk for health disparities
- More frequent diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, asthma, tuberculosis, and dental problems.
- Dental care is a low priority in migrant health seeking behaviors.
- Under- or Over-immunization among children due to lack of continuity of care and good record keeping.
- Poor financial status: 74.8% of farmworkers visiting federally funded health centers was at 100% below the federal poverty level.
- Over 54% were uninsured: Many employers do not offer health insurance or migrant farmworkers may not be able to pay premiums or deductibles.
- Lack of prenatal care due to access problems.
- According to Pregnancy Nutrition Surveillance System, more than 50% of migrant women had less than recommended weight gain throughout their pregnancies and almost 25% had undesirable birth outcomes, such as low-birth-weight, preterm births, and small-for-gestational-age babies.
- An exposure to pesticides may lead to an increased risk of severe physical and neurological developmental abnormalities in newborns.
- Food insecurity: 82% of farmworkers have experienced food insecurity of which 49% experienced hunger in Texas and New Mexico.
Specific health problems
Diabetes
Dental disease
Depression and Stress
Drug and alcohol use
Tuberculosis
HIV/AIDS
Pesticide exposure
Maternal and Child Health
- 3-5 times more prevalent in migrant farmworkers than in general populations, with higher rates of end-stage complications.
- Many workers are Latino, experience difficulty in obtaining proper nutrition, adhering to weight control measures, and procuring continuity of healthcare and medication administration.
Dental disease
- MSFWs have twice the rate of tooth decay and periodontal disease as the general population.
- Migrant children have significantly higher rates of tooth decay and lower rates of treatment.
- A survey result showed inadequate knowledge of oral health, lack of access to care, and resources to pay.
- FARMWORKERS ORAL HEALTH FACTSHEET
Depression and Stress
- May be related to isolation, economic hardship, legal status, poor living conditions, and weather conditions.
- Migrant women reported significantly more anxiety from working all day, cooking, cleaning, talking care of children, experiencing sexual harassment, and rare maternity leave and prenatal care.
- FARMWORKERS MENTAL HEALTH FACTSHEET
Drug and alcohol use
- Due to high stress
- Poses safety hazards during work
Tuberculosis
- Significantly higher rates of TB infection and positive TB tests.
- MSFWs are at least six times more likely to be infected with TB than general population.
- Causes include their countries of origins (Latin America, Haiti, and South Asia), crowded housing, and malnutrition.
- Required long-term treatment is difficult due to mobility, fear of deportation, language barriers, and alck of access to services.
- TB FARMWORKERS FACTSHEET
HIV/AIDS
- Estimated rate of MSFWs with HIV is from 2.6% to 13%, difficult to obtain data.
- Risk factors include lack of accurate knowledge, cultural, linguistic, and geographic barriers to health care services, limited education, poverty, sharing needles for common medication, unprotected sexual activity, isolation and separation from families, available prostitution, and migration across borders that result sin the spread of HIV.
- HIV/AIDS FARMWORKERS FACTSHEET
Pesticide exposure
Maternal and Child Health