How poverty hurts kids health

Guests: Daniel Taylor, Roy Wade

More than 16 million children live in poverty in the United States. That means that 22% of children are exposed to chronic or “toxic” stress that puts them at a higher risk for heart disease, diabetes, cancer, mental illness, and substance abuse later in life. Researchers have also found that the structures in a developing brain can permanently change when confronted with early trauma. American Academy of Pediatrics recently called on pediatricians to do a better job screening and talking about childhood poverty. This hour, Marty talks with two Philadelphia pediatricians about the effects poverty has on their young patients and how they address it. Our guests are DANIEL TAYLOR, associate professor at Drexel University College of Medicine and director of Community Pediatrics and Child Advocacy at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, and ROY WADE, instructor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania and a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Cobbs Creek Primary Care.