Originally published on The Hill. Many of the pandemic’s effects are widely known — the lives lost, the businesses that have shut their doors, the families that are going hungry, the women who are being forced out of the job market, and the disproportionate impacts of all of this on lower-income families and communities of […]
Originally published on GBH. A growing number of people in Massachusetts are accessing SNAP benefits. Between March and June of last year, households enrolled in SNAP grew by 19% over pre-pandemic rates, according to the Department of Transitional Assistance, which oversees the SNAP program in Massachusetts. Yet, by the DTA’s own estimates, more than 700,000 […]
Children’s HealthWatch, a pediatric research and policy network on the frontlines of pediatric care, applauds recent actions from the Biden-Harris Administration. With over 20 years of research investigating the health impact of economic conditions and inequities, we anticipate that these measures will improve the health and well-being of children and their families, in particular among […]
Originally published on The Boston Globe. As primary care physicians, we are accustomed to receiving hard news from our patients. A recent message came in the form of a text message, a string of crying emojis, from a patient who had already suffered so much Jean (name changed for privacy) though only in her mid-30s, […]
The deeply disturbing January 6th domestic terrorist attack on the nation’s Capitol defies moral and legal principles and threatens the health of our democracy, and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms. As we grapple with COVID-19’s decimation of lives across the country–especially in Black, indigenous, people of color, immigrant, and low-income communities–the terrorist […]
Originally published on The Massachusetts Medical Society. WALTHAM – Dr. Deborah Frank, director of the Grow Clinic for Children at Boston Medical Center and professor of child health and well-being in the department of pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine, has been honored by the Massachusetts Medical Society as the 2020 recipient of the […]
On December 23rd, Children HealthWatch submitted a comment in response to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Proposed Rule, “Restoration of Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium Flexibilities” published in the Federal Register on November 25th. At a time of unprecedented food insecurity rates and health disparities, our nation’s children […]
High Levels of Household Food Insecurity Persist among Families in Boston, Massachusetts during the COVID-19 Pandemic Key Takeaways In Metro Boston, rates of household food insecurity have persisted at high levels among Children’s HealthWatch families. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, preliminary data show 38.5 percent of families with very young children were food insecure. Federal, state, […]