Racial Disparities in Pediatric Healthcare Persist, Study Shows

Research published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health reveals that pediatric care for non-white children in the U.S. is universally worse, with children of color facing disparities in pain management, diagnostic imaging, surgical procedures, and wait times for care at the ER. The inequities are not attributed to lack of insurance and are rooted in structural racism, including unequal access to healthy housing and economic opportunities, policing disparities, and unconscious bias among health care providers. Policy recommendations to counteract these disparities include addressing social safety-net program eligibility and encouraging health care providers to check their own practices for biases.