Social and environmental factors put Black and Hispanic Americans at higher risk of exposure, illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19, new research confirms: “Among many other vulnerabilities, Black and Hispanic communities and households tend to be more crowded; many people work jobs requiring frequent contact with others and rely on public transportation. Access to health care is poorer than among white Americans, and rates of underlying conditions are much higher. “To me, these results make it clear that the disparities in mortality that we see are even more appalling,” said Jon Zelner, an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan who led one of the new studies. The toll on Black and Hispanic Americans “could easily have been ameliorated in advance of the pandemic by a less threadbare and cruel approach to social welfare and health care in the U.S.,” he added. “Even failing that, so much of this could have been avoided.” For example, the federal government could have protected citizens from risky work situations by providing income subsidies allowing them to stay home, Dr. Zelner said. The government could have ensured adequate protective equipment to workers in nursing homes and long-term care facilities.”
An opinion piece in The Guardian argues that governments should use COVID-19 recovery to pursue visionary climate policies: “Such measures aren’t just necessary – they’re popular. If governments are spending incredible resources on reducing unemployment and kickstarting the economic recovery, it’s only fair that those resources go towards building societies that are greener, sustainable and more resilient, rather than redoubling on the fragile models of the past. We should be expanding mass renewable energy, installing electric car charging stations, reforesting, and retrofitting homes, to name just a few examples. This recovery is a chance to undertake visionary, transformative investments that were previously deemed too risky or expensive – and push while the door is ajar. The opportunity won’t last for ever. For organisers of next year’s climate conference, the focus should be on the post-Covid economy, and three areas in particular: how to align economic recovery with climate action; how rich countries can offer debt relief and support linked to climate mitigation; and how we can design foolproof mechanisms to track and monitor countries’ progress with climate targets.”
Bay Area pediatricians called out the effects of remote learning and lack of access to school supports on San Francisco students: “As pediatricians, when children come to see us for check-ups, we ask how things are going at school. We do this because educational attainment is linked to long-term outcomes for our patients, including better health, economic mobility, and longer life. Lately, however, when we ask parents how their children are doing in school, more often than not, we hear stories of how distance learning is not working…. Even as teachers are working hard to provide a quality remote education, it is clear that not all children can learn in an online format. Students from marginalized communities are most likely to experience poverty, crowded living conditions, poor technology access, and other challenges to online learning. Every month of inadequate education can have cumulative and long-term health consequences for a child and will widen racial inequities.”
New research published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics connects changes in food environment on children’s weight and health. “Increased availability of small grocery stores selling a selection of healthy items in close proximity to children's homes improves their weight status over time, whereas increased availability of convenience stores selling predominantly unhealthy foods is likely to be detrimental. "Childhood obesity has a complex multifaceted etiology. In this study we found that community food environment, particularly small neighborhood stores, can significantly influence children's weight status. Our findings are useful for designing future interventions and public policies," explained lead author and co-director of the research, Punam Ohri-Vachaspati, Ph.D., RD, Professor, College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA. One of the few prospective longitudinal studies examining the influence of key elements of a comprehensive set of food outlets, both large and small, the study followed two groups of 3 to 15 year-old children in four New Jersey cities—Camden, New Brunswick, Newark, and Trenton. These cities were known to be initiating policy and environmental changes aimed at childhood obesity prevention. The first group was studied from 2009-10 to 2014-15, the second from 2014 to 2016-17. "Our research design allowed us to examine the patterns of relationship between changes in children's weight status and changes in the food environment over several meaningful distances and lengths of exposure. We found that community food environment in urban neighborhoods matters for children's weight outcomes, especially as it relates to small stores located near children's homes," commented Michael Yedidia.”