AAP urges pediatricians to act against child poverty

Pediatricians should assess the financial status of all the families of children they see and connect those in need with appropriate community resources, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said in a policy statement on tackling child poverty, published Wednesday 9 March.1

The statement added that pediatricians should advocate for public policies that reduce poverty’s impact on child health, emphasizing, “The AAP considers child poverty in the United States unacceptable and detrimental to the health and well-being of children and is committed to its elimination.”

Roughly one in five (21.1%) children in the US live in poor households, defined as having household incomes below 100% of the federal poverty …