The New Housing Call for Pediatricians
One Boston-based pediatrician tells us how by investing in innovative solutions that ensure stable, affordable housing, we can ensure that all children have the opportunity to live happy, healthy lives. In studies conducted by Children’s HealthWatch in Boston, researchers used overcrowding and multiple moves in one year as indicators. These and other studies show that housing insecurity and residential mobility are linked to poor child health outcomes on a wide variety of measures: developmental delay, behavioral disturbances, earlier drug use, and increased teen pregnancy and depression. Housing insecurity was also linked to a higher likelihood of food insecurity, which independently is associated with greater risk of hospitalization and poor child health.