Substantial race and ethnic disparities were found for a broad set of harmful health-related issues in a new study of fifth graders from various regions of the US, conducted by the Boston Chidlren’s Hospital.
According to the official press release, black and Latino children were more likely than white children to report everything from witnessing violence to engaging in less exercise to riding in cars without wearng seatbelts. At the same time, the study reportedly found that children of all races and ethnicities did better on these health indicators if they had more highly-educated parents with higher income or had the advantages of attending certain schools.
Although white children were more likely to have these advantages than black or Latino children, when children with similar advantages were compared, racial and ethnic differences for most health indicators were smaller or even absent.
Some of the key disparities included:
- Black children were four times more likely and Latino children were two times more likely than white children to see a threat or injury with a gun.
- Black children weremore likely to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol than Latino or white children.
- Black and Latino children were less likely than white children to wear a seatbelt or a bike helmet.
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