A childhood racial health gap has created broad disparities in the physical and mental wellbeing of Wisconsin children, according to a study released this month by the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families.

The WCCF study examined race-based health disparities in an attempt to identify factors that cause the inequities in the first place. Many statistics are presented within the study that suggest a grim health future for non-white children in Wisconsin, such as a 2008 infant mortality rate twice as high for black infants as for white infants.

“Wisconsin’s disparities are among the worst in the country,” Bob Jacobson, spokesperson for WCCF, said. “People have this image of Wisconsin as being a great place for children and families, but by and large not everybody is sharing in that well being.”

Approximately 20 percent of Wisconsin’s population identifies as a member of a minority group according to the United States Census Bureau. It is the children within this group who WCCF indicates face the most uncertain future as far as health issues are concerned.

“Unfortunately, the statistics are not new to me,” Sarah Esmond, administrative director for the Collaborative Center for Health Equity, an organization that works to improve health equity in under-served communities of Wisconsin said. “Wisconsin has indeed been lagging behind in infant mortality rates and other measures for many years.”

Childhood health represents a series of markers, many of which are not solely related to health care.

“One of the direct indicators of childhood health is growing up in an economically stable household,” Jacobson said.

A set of serious solutions are needed to rectify these health disparities among ethnic and racial minorities in Wisconsin, including improving enrollment in the BadgerCare Plus program, WCCF states.

BadgerCare Plus acts as a health care safety net in the state of Wisconsin, providing healthcare for those with jobs who cannot afford traditional health care. The program is funded through a combination of Medicaid and the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program.

The WCCF study recommends expanding outreach of the program to make sure that those who are eligible actually get coverage.

Factors contributing to the health gap between white and non-white children also include the availability of healthy food, access to safe housing and exposure to violence, as well as the accessibility of quality medical care, according to the study.

One causal factor of childhood health mentioned by the study is the accessibility of lead-free housing. It found that black children are six times as likely as white children to be poisoned, and Hispanic children are twice as likely as white children. Exposure to lead can cause reading and learning disabilities, as well as a decreased IQ level, according to the findings presented in the study.

“Poverty and race lie at the root of community-level conditions that create health disparities,” the study concluded. “These significant barriers to health have been built over time and continue to affect health care outcomes.”