Chapter 18 Health and Medicine

“Children’s Quality of Life Declining,” the headline said. A study from the Foundation for Child Development noted that more than 21% of American children were living in poverty in 2010, up 5% from 2006 and the highest rate in two decades. Child experts warned that the increasing poverty could impair children’s health. The sociologist who led the study worried that child obesity could increase as families were forced to move away from more expensive health food to processed and fast food. A child psychology professor said that people who grow up in poverty have higher rates of cancer, liver and respiratory disease, and other conditions. The president of the American Academy of Pediatrics agreed that family poverty is a health risk for children, who are more likely to be born prematurely and/or with low birth weight and to develop asthma and other health problems as they grow. She added that all these problems can have lifelong effects: “The consequences of poverty build on themselves, so that the outcomes can be felt for years to come.” (Landau, 2010; Szabo, 2010)Landau, E. (2010, June 8). Children’s quality of life declining, says report. CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/06/08/children.wellbeing; Szabo, L. (2010, June 8). More than 1 in 5 kids live in poverty. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-06-08-1Achild08_ST_N.htm