Poverty Re-Cycles: Why America Needs to Prioritize Child Health Disparities

Abstract

When we think about children, we envision cute, innocent little people who have not a care in the world. Though optimistic, this vision is unfortunately not reality. Today, more and more children are suffering health disparities due to their socioeconomic status and race. Disparities are an issue of equity—what makes an affluent white child more important to care for than a low-income minority child? The foundations of adult health and success are laid early in childhood, so the health impact of early development and education lasts a lifetime. Since health disparities caused by socioeconomic status and race are becoming more and more pronounced, they affect children in more areas than just health. Thus society needs to make eliminating disparities a widespread priority. Most disparity research to date has documented differences and mechanisms for differences, but more solutions need to be found. After all, if our children are not thriving in the present, our country will not be able to thrive in the future.