Issues

Healthy children learn better and are more productive – both in and out of the classroom. Setting strong nutritional standards in our schools is essential to combating the concerning obesity rates among American children.

Providing our youth with healthy food options and nutrition education is key to their long-term health and success, which is why we support policies that build healthy eating habits and ensure a brighter and healthier future for our children.

Young children often are hardest hit by the consequences of poor environmental public health systems. For their size, they breathe more air and eat more food than adults, making them particularly vulnerable to environmental public health hazards. And even low levels of toxic exposures can affect children’s physical and mental development.

Further, children of color and children living in poverty bear an even higher burden of environmental hazards. And yet, there are no laws or protections dedicated to children in the environments where they may face harmful exposures. This can be at home, school, childcare facilities, playgrounds, parks -anywhere children live, learn and play.

Safe schools promote the protection of students from violence, exposure to weapons and threats, theft, bullying, and the sale or use of illegal substances on school grounds. School safety is linked to improved student and school outcomes.

In particular, emotional and physical safety in school is related to academic performance. At the same time, students who are victims of physical or emotional harassment or who are involved in the sale or use of illegal substances on school grounds are at risk for poor attendance, course failure and dropout.

Immigrant children and families face many challenges in the current environment including threats posed by the separation of children and families at the U.S. border, the uncertain fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, potential changes to public charge rules, among others.

Emerging literature shows that protective immigration policies can have a positive effect on health care status and access. Conversely, current threats facing immigrant families are harming access to health care and contributing to poorer health outcomes. Pediatricians and the broader healthcare community have an important role to play in advocating on behalf of immigrant families.

Approximately one out of every five children in America have a diagnosable mental health disorder. Mental health problems in young people are associated with outcomes such as suicide, substance use, inability to live independently, justice involvement, school dropout, economic hardship, and physical health problems.

Promoting mental health care and early intervention will likely reduce overall health care costs. It is imperative that we improve efforts around early recognition of mental health needs among children and adolescents and foster greater awareness of early warning signs.

In the United States, e-cigarette use among youth has exploded into what the Surgeon General and the Food & Drug Administration have called “epidemic” levels. Alarmingly, e-cigarette marketing uses many of the same strategies effectively used by the tobacco industry to reach kids.

The tobacco industry’s flavored products that taste like fruit, mint and candy have long been known to be appealing to kids, and now e-cigarettes are available in these flavors. Tobacco and e-cigarette companies are also using social media marketing to advertise e-cigarettes in ways that appeal to kids.