(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-04-04 20:50

The neglect cases include situations in which medical professionals conclude that a child got sick or didn't correctly develop because parents didn't get recommended medical care. Those cases were not necessarily life-threatening, noted David Finkelhor, who directs the Crimes against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire.

Finkelhor said the cases might in part reflect families who don't have adequate health insurance. The study's authors said they don't have information to verify that theory.

Both Finkelhor and Dubowitz have worked with the same database the researchers used. But Dubowitz pointed to data showing that most of the neglect cases in newborns were reported in the first two days of life.

That is a time when results from blood tests of mother and child come back and are often shared with protective services. Such tests would indicate whether the mother was abusing drugs.

However, Dubowitz said data on potential explanations behind neglect cases is skimpy, so it is difficult to draw conclusions.

But more prenatal care and drug treatment services would seem like a wise way to address the problem, he added.

The study didn't include data on fatal abuse and neglect. But federal officials said about 500 infants under age 1 died of abuse or neglect during the study period.

The CDC collaborated on the study with the federal Administration for Children and Families. The research was published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

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