The number of children diagnosed with developmental disabilities has increased notably in the past two decades, and a growing body of science suggests that environmental pollution, stress and food insecurity are fueling the trend.
It's well-known that there's a yawning gap between wealthier kids and their less affluent peers in the number of words heard as a child, a fact that has big implications for their future success. But do programs aimed at closing the gap work?
Air pollution is a real health risk for people in communities across the U.S., as extensive research shows. But while we all have to breathe, not everyone breathes the same air, thanks to big variations from place to place.
A recent survey of students in Buffalo revealed that roughly one in three had seen someone shot, stabbed or assaulted in their neighborhood. The crisis is all the more harrowing given what we're learning about childhood trauma's life-long effects on health and well-being.
Nationwide, one in seven families experience food insecurity at any given point in a year. The rates are higher in Indian Country, increasing the risks for the physical effects that come with poor nutrition.
The Post-Dispatch special report delved into an array of problems that affect the health and well-being of people struggling daily to keep a job, the electricity running and food on the table and resist the ripple effects of violence.
We know "toxic stress" can have a devastating impact on the longterm health and well-being of children. But how do we counter its effects? It turns out that strengthening relationships and building resilience is key.
Toxic stress can have a devastating effect on children's health, with consequences stretching out over a lifetime. Nancy Cambria offers a primer on the science behind our emerging understanding of the toll chronic stress is taking on young lives.
The story of Darlene Evans, a 45-year-old single mother of 10 children living on disability without a car, reflects how toxic stress can attack maternal health before moving on to impair prenatal and early childhood well-being.
Toxic stress is becoming a hot topic in science and brain development. It’s also an emerging public health concern. Experts say the way to avoid toxic stress is through strong relationships that support children and their families.
