What's still wrong with inner-city kids?

April 7, 7:08 PMHealth ExaminerAngela Spears

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Most public housing suffers from pest infestation

Nearly ten years ago while working for a PR agency on Madison Avenue I had the opportunity to work with the award winning author Jonathan Kozel  His book Ordinary Resurrections; Children in the Years of Hope is beautifully written and is a deeply moving depiction on the lives of inner-city children of Mott Haven in the South Bronx.  What was interesting is that Mr. Kozel pointed out there is a direct correlation between children living in public housing and asthma.

The 4/7/09 edition of the New York Times' health section confirms that up to one-third of children living in inner-city public housing has allergic asthma.  Dr. Daniel G. Remick, currently the professor of pathology at Boston University School of Medicine states the major cause of asthma is cock-roaches.  And most public housing suffers from pest infestation.

While at the University of Michigan, Dr. Remick led a team of scientists to conduct the research which yields the bleak outcome for children that have few housing alternatives.  Read the New York Times' article House Dust Yields Clue To Asthma: Roaches.