A group of American pediatricians has released a worrying study detailing the many ways racism is having real-world effects on the health of Black children.
The American Academy of Pediatrics study adds to years of scientific research and studies that have shown the stress caused by racism is intimately linked to conditions like heart disease and depression as well as increased drug and alcohol use.
"Racism is a social determinant of health that has a profound impact on the health status of children, adolescents, emerging adults, and their families. Although progress has been made toward racial equality and equity, the evidence to support the continued negative impact of racism on health and well-being through implicit and explicit biases, institutional structures, and interpersonal relationships is clear," the study states.
"The objective of this policy statement is to provide an evidence-based document focused on the role of racism in child and adolescent development and health outcomes."
There have been dozens of studies showing concrete links between racism-related stress and a rise in the release of hormones like cortisol. Cortisol can have damaging effects on the body and can cause inflammatory reactions.
The American Academy of Pediatrics said they hope that by discussing the issue, pediatricians will be better equipped to help children dealing with the physical effects of pervasive racism.
They say they believe the study will help to "reduce the health effects of structural, personally mediated, and internalized racism and improve the health and well-being of all children, adolescents, emerging adults, and their families."
Dr. Maria Trent, lead researcher for the study, wrote a lengthy statement explaining the study and laying out what needs to be done to help those affected by the daily toll of racism. She called the study a "policy statement." Trent added that while the task of addressing an issue as large as racism is "overwhelming," doctors were in a unique position to provide practical strategies for struggling patients.
"Although we have progressed toward greater racial equity, racism continues to undermine the health of children, adolescents and families. Children and adolescents experience racism through the places they live and learn, by what they have economically and how their rights are protected," she said.
"The stress generated by experiences of racism may start through maternal exposures while in utero and continue after birth with the potential to create toxic stress. This transforms how the brain and body respond to stress, resulting in short- and long-term health impacts on achievement and mental and physical health. We see the manifestations of this stress as preterm births and low birthweights in newborns to subsequent development of heart disease, diabetes and depression as children become adults."
For starters, Trent said doctors and nurses had to focus on making sure their own offices were safe spaces where Black children felt secure enough to discuss all of their problems.
Pediatricians, she said, can add uplifting signs to their office and make sure to ask patients about any recent situations in the community that may have disturbed them. Trent said doctors had to start with their own actions and spaces and work outward from there, addressing problems as they come.
The goal, according to Trent, is to help parents raise children and adolescents who can "identify racism when they see or experience it, oppose the negative messages or behaviors by others, and replace it with something positive or constructive to prevent the observed longitudinal health and developmental consequences associated with internalizing those experiences."
