In their Own Words

Children in dense urban areas face an unusual constellation of health threats thought to stem from pollution and poverty. A recent study by Columbia University’s Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) showed that 25 percent of Harlem kids under thirteen have asthma, a rate more than four times the national average of 6 percent. Researchers at the CCCEH this year also released results of a study that evaluated mothers in the Harlem, Washington Heights, and South Bronx neighborhoods of New York. It showed that prenatal exposure to second-hand smoke, in combination with environmental pollution from vehicles and power plants, leads to a seven percent reduction–equal to half a pound–in birth weight and a three percent–or half an inch–reduction in head circumference.

As a teacher at River East, a progressive public elementary school in East Harlem, I see kids grappling with these problems everyday. I find that my fifth and sixth grade students are fascinated with the human body. We have studied the math of nutrition labels, painted murals of human development, and written reports on the diseases that most interest them. Students want to learn more about those diseases that directly affect their families, such as cancer, heart disease, and AIDS. More than half of my class has asthma. And students who may have seen drug use want to understand the way that drugs work in the body.

This winter, my class threatened to picket if they were not given the option of salad at lunch. Now we get limp iceberg lettuce maybe twice a week. It’s a step in the right direction, but I’m not guaranteeing the lunch-ladies that the kids won’t demand more. The more children understand about health issues, the more empowered they become, both to make good choices for themselves, and to look at the root causes of the health problems in their neighborhoods. Having talked with them about the cold facts of major health issues, I asked the class a few questions to learn how they respond emotionally to those issues in their own neighborhoods. –Rachel Lambert

1. What health problems are you worried about? Why?

Lisa, age 11, Harlem

Overweightness. Many people in Harlem are overweight. Maybe it’s

because the prices for healthy organic foods are too high. Maybe

because of the lack of exercise.

Maybe because of the fattening, addictive, cholesteral-raising fast

food. Hey, I myself am overweight--last time I checked I was 134

pounds. But now I am not worried because I have tried eating well

and I go swimming five times a week. I don’t care about being

overweight because of my body. I care because of the heart and heart

attacks. So I try what I can do.

Tony, 10, Harlem

Asthma. I don’t want to die and I want to stay alive for a long time.

William, 12, Bronx

HIV, because you can die from it and I want to live.

LaTanya, 13, Harlem

-STDs because you cannot get rid of that type of disease. You can’t

get rid of none of those. It’s either you try really hard not to get

it or you stick with it for the rest of your life until you die.

Asthma you can get rid of. But people catch asthma attacks like it

ain’t nothing!

Aliyiah, 11, Harlem

Cancer, because my dad had cancer, and I am afraid that I might get it too.

Amir, 12, Bronx

Cancer, because a lot of people in my family smoke. And I throw

their cigarettes away and I be threatening them. I say, let me find

your cigarettes and I’ll throw them away. But now they quit smoking

because of me. My uncle died of cancer.

Monee, 12, Harlem

My grandma smokes and I’m scared she’ll get cancer.

2. What do you do to stay healthy? How did you learn to do these things?

Lisa,11, Harlem

Like I said before, I try to eat healthy and I go swimming 5 times a

week and play in the park, and like they say, playing is exercise. I

try to walk more, and when it gets hotter, I am gonna bike ride to

school. See, try to turn exercise into a game and you will get good

at it.

Tony, 10, Harlem

I play basketball, football, and drink water.

William, 12, Bronx

I eat salad.

LaTanya, 13, Harlem

I eat salad. I exercise. I drink a lot of water.

Amir, 12, Bronx

I exercise and play basketball and eat fruit salad, but I hate tomatoes.

3. Are there health issues or illnesses that are more common where

you live than in other communities?

Lisa,11, Harlem

Asthma scares me a lot. I remember I had three cats, one I had named

Poky I had for 10 years who was dying and leaving fumes everywhere.

The second and third cats came together; they were brother and

sister. The boy we called Zorro, the girl we called Sweetie. Anyway I

got bronchitis, and it started to get worse and my doctor said I

could get asthma if we keep the cats. Asthma can kill. It was

horrible but we got rid of the cats. I was instantly better.

Aliyiah, 11, Harlem

I think AIDS, and the block next to me has a lot of drug dealers.

Mary, 12, East Harlem

HIV and AIDS, unprotected sex. Mostly that is it.

William, 12, the Bronx

All kinds of attacks, like heart attacks.

LaTanya, 13, Harlem

Cancer and high blood pressure.

Shonnell, 13, East Harlem

Overweightness, because a lot of people in my building are mad overweight.

Amir, 12, Bronx

I don’t think AIDS is more common here because a lot of people in

Africa have AIDS. It is not as common in America. Drugs is common

because mad people are crackheads. I saw a guy selling a fan in the

middle of the WINTER!

Monee, 12 years old, Harlem

There is a little building by my house, and every morning they go in

there to get some drugs. The people go crazy.

4. What would you change about your community to make it healthier?

Lisa, age 11, Harlem

I would make health food store prices lower and also put affordable

gyms and things that would just help out the community. And also

make a nice gym wherenothing is unpredictable and at low prices and

for children too.

Aliyiah, 11, Harlem

Stop people selling cigarettes to teenagers, because they smoke

because of peer pressure and they start at a young age.

Amir, 12, Bronx

I would throw away guns, war, weapons, drugs, scissors, knives, pens,

and pencils, because you could stab someone with them. Okay, I’m

kidding, but I would throw away all real weapons and drugs and I

might throw away scissors because they are dangerous-- and

sledgehammers.

Shonnell, 13, East Harlem

Stop making cigarettes and all drugs.

Monee, 12, Harlem

Stop them from selling cigarettes on the street, going “Newports, Newports.”

REFERENCES

Branzei, Sylvia. Grossology. New York: Price Stern Sloan, 2002.

The Yolla Bolly Press. Brown Paper School Book: Blood and Guts. Boston: Little, Brown, 1976.