Non-white kids receive lower quality healthcare in the US, study finds

Non-white children in the US receive lower-quality healthcare compared to white children, according to a study published this month.

Fifteen researchers from institutions including Harvard and the University of Southern California analyzed studies published between 2017 and 2022 to conclude that the disparities in care quality for non-white children persisted across specialties, even after taking factors like insurance and socioeconomic status into account.

“Racial and ethnic disparities in health are substantial and persistent in the USA, present in the earliest years of life, and profoundly affect children’s health throughout their lives,” the researchers wrote in the study, published in the medical journal The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health.

Some of the study’s key findings include that minority children are less likely to receive painkillers compared to white children; Black and Asian children are less likely than white children to receive a developmental disability diagnosis before kindergarten; and poor communication between providers and minority children contributes to inequalities in primary care quality.

“Societal structures and systems—including healthcare, education, housing, and legal and economic systems—act individually and in combination to create and perpetuate structural racism, which influences a child’s opportunity for healthy development,” the researchers wrote. “Policies must intentionally dismantle systemic racism to foster an inclusive and thriving society for all racially and ethnically minoritized children.”