Assessing disparities in asthma among children across neighborhoods of a large metropolitan area: The child opportunity index

Abstract

While poor and vulnerable populations often contribute significantly less to environmental problems, they are significantly more likely to suffer from adverse economic and health effects caused by environmental problems. Poor children, who are often children of color, are particularly vulnerable to environmental health disparities. The purpose of this paper is to describe the application of the Childhood Opportunity Index, to assess asthma disparities among children in a SW Florida metropolitan area and discuss its implications for strengthening public health policy. Used in conjunction with 2017 Florida Environmental Public Health Tracking data of children’s asthma related emergency room visits, results based on application of this measure revealed that children who live within high child opportunity tracts generally experienced fewer asthma-related emergency room visits than did children who live within low child opportunity tracts. As the racial and ethnic composition of large metropolitan areas in the United States continues to increase, more research should focus on these dynamics and their influence on healthy development of children. The Child Opportunity Index is a useful tool in identifying communities that face educational, environmental and economic disadvantages, and further analysis based on this index may help to inform policies and promote more equitable health outcomes.