We’ve long known that community resources — good schools, walkability, food security, etc. — affect opportunities for children’s health and behaviors to develop. But how do we measure these characteristics and use our knowledge to create better policy?

In this episode of A Health Podyssey, Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Brandeis University’s Dr. Dolores Acevedo-Garcia to discuss her research on racial and ethnic inequities in children’s neighborhoods.

The results are stunning as they are surprising. While differences across the country were expected and noted, more than 90% of the variation in neighborhood opportunity occurs in metro areas.

What are the implications at the policy level for these results? Alan Weil and Dr. Acevedo-Garcia discuss.

Where a child grows up shapes their health