Question

Research children's health issues, focusing on environmental factors and links to poverty. The assessment of environmental processes includes agents and factors that predispose communities and populations to injury, illness, and death. What correlations did your research show between environmental and health issues in the school-aged child? Make sure to include references to the article(s) you consulted.

Answer 1

Children are at greatest risk of illness. injury. and even death from environmental factor because their bodies are still developing. Children are more vulnerable and susceptible to environmental hazards due to their sire, physiology, and behavior. According to a study published in the journal Pediatrics & Child’s Health, “Disparities in wealth, along with the persistence and depth of poverty, also have critical effects on child development and well-being. Income inequality is regarded as an important driver of health status in industrialized nations.” This study concluded that there are multiple factors that affect children’s health and wellness negatively when growing up in an impoverished home. A potential influence that directly increase a child’s risk for injury and death is low-income housing that often times lacks proper safety features and crime in the area that exposing the child to violence. School-aged children are independent enough to find trouble (guns, traffic, etc.) and are at high risk for injury and death under these circumstances. Substandard housing generally is found in a busy part of the inner city that lacks green space and often is near busy streets and bus routes (Gupta, 2007).

Increased risk for illness is also a factor for children living in poverty. The journal of Child Development performed research that concluded parents and children living in poverty reported “higher levels of psychological distress, greater difficulties in self–regulatory behavior (delayed gratification), and elevated psychophysiological stress (resting blood pressure, overnight neuroendocrine hormones)” (Evans, 2003). Years of this physical and emotional stress can cause an array of health issues for children. A study performed by Gupta and McKeown found that children raised in poverty have a higher prevalence of asthma, diabetes, injuries and mental health disorders (Gupta, 2007).

References:

Evans, G. W., & English, K. (2003, January 28). The Environment of Poverty: Multiple Stressor Exposure, Psychophysiological Stress, and Socioemotional Adjustment.

Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8624.00469/full

Gupta, R. P., Wit, M. L., & McKeown, D. (2007, October). The impact of poverty on the current and future health status of children.

Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2528796/

If you are satisfied with my answer please rate it.