The Growing Pediatric Health Gap: Environmental Injustice Threatens Our Future

The Deirdre Imus Environmental Center® at HackensackUMC publishes landmark paper on The Growing Pediatric Health Gap: Environmental Injustice Threatens Our Future

Deirdre Imus, president and founder of The Deirdre Imus Environmental Center® at HackensackUMC, andLawrence Rosen, M.D., the Center’s medical advisor, pediatrician and founder of the Whole Child Center, have co-authored a landmark paper entitled The Growing Pediatric Health Gap: Environmental Injustice Threatens Our Future, which was recently published in EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing, a leading interdisciplinary publication in the field of integrative medicine.

Nine years after releasing their 2007 paper, Environmental Injustice: Children’s Health Disparities and the Role of the Environment, Deirdre and Dr. Rosen revisit the issue of children’s environmental health and its intricate relationship with childhood health disparities. The current paper highlights the latest trends and statistics in pediatric health issues, including the concerning high prevalence of childhood cancer, allergies, asthma, obesity, diabetes and developmental disabilities in recent years.

“Simply put, children are our future,” said Deirdre Imus. “An investment in the health of our kids is an investment in generations to come. This paper is a must-read call-to-action that emphasizes the steps we can all take to protect our children’s health.”

This new paper explores emerging environmental concerns that disproportionately affect the health and well-being of children, such as climate change, toxic stress, and electromagnetic radiation. It highlights eye-opening statistics about the impacts of these issues on our children’s health, such as toxic stress early in life leading to heart disease, depression, and substance abuse. Moreover, the paper focuses on the relationship between environmental issues and poverty, offering the sad truth that children living in poverty bear the greatest burden of environmental health issues, ultimately widening the health gap in America.

“What has transpired in the decade since our first paper is heartbreaking,” said Dr. Rosen. “It’s important to understand the full implications of these emerging threats and to discover what we believe are important strategies to reverse the worsening health trends affecting our children.”

(source: The Deirdre Imus Environmental Center®)