How Are the Children?

By Artina Dozier-Gage

Healthy Children, Healthy Community: the importance of connecting the dots…

There’s a greeting that is used by communities in Africa upon entering one another’s village; instead of, “Hello” or “Good morning” it’s, “How are the children?” The thinking behind this greeting is that, if the children are well, then the village is well; and, if the children are not well, then, of course, the village can’t possibly be doing well.

Although here in the states we may not initially greet each other in quite that exact same way, in that, it may take us a salutation or a line or two prior to asking about the children, it doesn’t change the fact that, here too, the wellbeing and health of the children in a community is probably the best indicator of the overall health and wellbeing of the entire community.

This makes sense, right? With children making up a large percentage of the total population, and soon to become young and middle age adults (a group that makes up over 60% of the total population) according tochildstats.gov) it makes sense that keeping and bolstering the wellbeing and health of this demographic is crucial to ensuring healthy populations. As stated in an excerpt from Public Health Aspects of Child Well-Being, “The desire to ensure… that the maximum number of children reach their full potential as adults is also of critical importance to public health practitioners…given the increasing evidence that many adult diseases and problems have their origins in causal pathways of early childhood.”

Raising more awareness around the seemingly rather simple concept, from Children’s Health, The Nation’s Wealth that, “Healthy children are more likely to become healthy adults.” In turn, it seems more reasonable that a population of healthier adults (physically, mentally, sociamotionally, etc.) would also increase the likely of creating a better quality of life for all, in addition to ensuring a more healthy and sustainable future for the planet Earth and it’s inhabitants.

Our clinics, Anne Mare’ Ice Pediatric Health Center and Hope Family Health Center both offer trauma-informed comprehensive ​pediatric services as well as screening for the social determinants of health and adverse childhood experiences. Call (313) 824-1000 for appointments and walk-ins.

Artina Dozier-Gage is the Public Affairs and Social Media Manager at Authority Health