Throughout the city, neighborhoods with higher rates of poverty also experience higher rates of childhood asthma, which we can see from the rates of emergency department visits.

On the scatter plot below, each dot represents one neighborhood. Its horizontal position represents the neighborhood’s poverty rate, and its vertical position represents its asthma rate. The pattern of dots, roughly grouped around an ascending line, shows a connection between poverty and asthma: the higher the poverty rate, the higher the asthma rate.

Why does this connection exist? The connection between poverty and asthma is due to a variety of factors, including:

• A shortage of healthy housing in poor neighborhoods means that people experience a range of housing conditions like mold, pests, and leaks that trigger asthma and make it worse.
• A lack of access to high-quality health care means that people with asthma may not be on the right medicine to prevent attacks.

Some studies have concluded that the place you’re born largely determines your economic future. Other studies have concluded that where you’re born is determined by income, race and ethnicity.

This means that in our society, too many outcomes of health and well-being are determined before we’re born. To improve public health, we need to address poverty and racial inequities.

Run Like An Olympian

Train like an Olympian with RIPA! Join us on Thursdays from 6 – 7 pm in July and August at Icahn Stadium to enjoy a walk, jog, or run around our “icahnic” track! Our International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) approved track has hosted Olympic Trials and seen records set by Jesse Owens, Meseret Defar, and Usain Bolt. 

Participants must be 18 or older to participate. This is a free event, but registration is required. For more information on this event series, please visit RIPA’s website. We hope to see you there!

P.S. Congratulations to all the athletes participating in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics! To celebrate the Olympic games, check out our video of when RIPA partnered with the Manhattan Soccer Club to surprise five lucky athletes with a special virtual interview with US Women’s National Soccer Team Captain Carli Lloyd!