Mar. 24, 2000


Conference Examines The Health Of Urban Children

By Liz Griffith

David Satcher

U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher will speak in Columbia's Alfred Lerner Hall as part of a day-long conference Monday (March 27) addressing the environmental health needs of children in the inner city communities of New York and other large cities. Speakers will focus on research investigating the racial, ethnic, and social disparities in the rates of childhood illness.

The conference, titled "The Health of Our Children in the Urban Environment: A Dialogue Among Scientists, Community Leaders and Policy Makers," will assemble academic researchers, health professionals, community and environmental advocates, and policy makers in the Roone Arledge Auditorium of Alfred Lerner Hall on 115th Street and Broadway.

An estimated 25 percent of preventable illnesses worldwide can be attributed to poor environmental quality, and there is an increased risk of disease from early life exposure to toxic substances since the fetus and the young child are developing rapidly. Children in urban communities, especially in low-income neighborhoods, are disproportionately exposed to environmental toxins outdoors, such as air pollution, pesticides, metals, tobacco smoke, as well as to indoor allergens like mold, cockroach particles, and dust mites. In particular, children living in Northern Manhattan and the South Bronx have among the highest rates of asthma and low birth weight in the country.

Presentations on recent research findings, concerns of community leaders, and community-based intervention projects will follow a keynote address in the morning by Dr. David Satcher, U.S. Surgeon General, on the government's efforts to reduce the risk of infant mortality in America. In the afternoon, Dr. Kenneth Olden, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) will discuss the scientific investments needed to improve risk assessment decisions concerning environmental health research. Brian Lehrer of NPR and WNYC will then moderate two roundtable discussions, which will conclude the day.

Sponsoring this event is the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH), which was established within the Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health in 1998 with the goal of preventing environmentally related diseases in children. The Center combines state-of-the-art scientific approaches with community outreach and education.

This conference is open to the public, but pre-registration is required and space is limited. To register, please tell CCCEH your name and organization as soon as possible by calling (212) 304-7625 or by e-mailing jm1309@columbia.edu.

To view the program click here.