Education in Chemistry – Anna Sutherland
“As I noted in this space yesterday, improving the health of American kids will ultimately require tackling deeply rooted social problems. But as much as the broader social environment affects each child’s health, the child’s family matters quite a bit, too. Do her parents take her to the doctor, feed her a healthy diet, and encourage her to exercise? Do his parents meet his psychological need for affection? Is she disciplined with a spanking or a time-out? Lawrence Berger and Sarah Font explain in a Future of Children article that the answers to these questions are linked not only to parents’ income levels but also to family structure and stability. Their explanation of how these factors relate to disparities in child health is worth quoting at length: Children who experience family complexity and fluidity tend to exhibit poorer average health and to have less access to regular health care. In part, this reflects differences in parents’ financial and behavioral resources; family complexity and fluidity are particularly common among poorer families. Moreover, higher income is associated with lower levels of psychological distress, warmer and less harsh parenting, and higher-quality caregiving environments..”(more)