June 13, 2006
Not everyone's growing up healthy
William G. Andrekopoulos, superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools, writes about health disparity in his city.
A few highlights:
• Forty-one percent of children in Milwaukee live in poverty; triple the state total and fourth highest in the nation.
• Untreated tooth decay reaches epidemic proportions in the City of Milwaukee. In 2005, 572 Head Start children were screened, and 61% were found to have untreated decay with 10% needing urgent dental care.• The rate of lead poisoning among Wisconsin children is more than twice the national average. And in some Milwaukee neighborhoods, nearly 1 out of every 4 children have elevated lead levels. Lead poisoning has been associated with behavior problems, health problems and school performance and learning problems.
• In 2003, asthma surveillance in Milwaukee Public Schools indicated an asthma prevalence rate of at least 14% - higher than the prevalence rate range of 5.3% to 13% in the 22 states measured by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey.
Send news items related to health disparities to ReduceDisparity(AT)case.edu
Posted by David Porter at 10:00 AM
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Category: Health Disparities; inner-city; poverty
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