By: Ellie Hawkins

It is amazing to think that the city of Boston and Boston Children’s Hospital released the first ‘Health of Boston’s Children Report’ this past year. It is crucial for a city to know about its children’s health, because they are the future for that city and others.

It is not surprising to read that the children who come from above the federal poverty level have better health conditions. Also, that the people who come from below the federal poverty level have worse health and are usually born pre-maturely.

To many, it will be great to hear that 90 percent of the children in Boston “have at least one usual place of care,” said Mayor Thomas Menino’s press release about the issue. Even though children should at least have a pediatrician and dentist, the study shows that about 90 percent have one.

Each child has different needs and it should be our city’s duty to help each one as best as they can.

Something that should be more prominent in the United States, in general, is explaining to children how important it is to take care of one’s self. There should be representatives that go into the schools and explain to students what the proper nutrition is and portion sizes are. Many parents do not know what the correct portions are.

By showing children how to read the labeling on different food packaging it can help children make better choices later in life when they are responsible for choosing and preparing their own food. Many students do not realize how to read the labels. They will see something that says only 120 calories, but they do not look farther up on the label to see how many serving sizes are in something. So something that might look like it is only 120 calories will actually be 360 if there are three serving sizes in the package.

A second thing that should be important to any school system is explaining the proper fitness a person should have. Having a proper fitness routine not only keeps a person fit and healthy, but also will help them in the future to know how to work out.

Schools should make sure that they have a proper fitness class for students because oxygen goes into your brain and helps brain functioning and productivity. This will help students stay alert in school and learn more.

The city of Boston should keep doing these children’s health reports to make sure that children are not being forgotten about in such a big city. Plus, it will help them keep track of which areas in Boston need the most help.

Since this health release came out, the city learned that there are children who are suffering from poor health conditions. Hopefully they will do something about it and make proper health care more accessible for the people who are below the poverty level. The children in this city are our future. It is important to make sure that they know the information to stay healthy and pass it down to their families.