Skip to main content

School Readiness

Print

Health and School Readiness of Young Black Boys

Social determinants of health (SDOH) are social, economic, and environmental factors that affect a person’s health. Some SDOH are protective and lead to better health; others are risk factors that can lead to poorer health.

Black boys may have more risk factors than protective factors. When they have more risk factors than other children, this is a health disparity. Such disparities are preventable differences in health outcomes. Head Start programs help reduce health disparities for Black boys.

This resource highlights the SDOH and health disparities that Black boys experience. Learn ways to reduce health disparities and improve health equity.

School Readiness Begins with Health

Health affects school readiness long before a child enters school. Healthy development begins before pregnancy. Physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development affect school readiness. Healthy children have better attendance at their early childhood program. They can take part in more learning opportunities and assessments and are better prepared for kindergarten.

SDOH That Affect Black Boys

Examples of positive SDOH for Black boys include:

  • High-quality, accessible health and mental health care
  • Medical insurance
  • Connection to family, culture, and community
  • High-quality early childhood education
  • Financial stability
  • Spiritual or religious practices
  • Access to affordable, healthy foods
  • High-quality homes in safe neighborhoods

Black boys are more likely than white children to experience SDOH that harm their health and school success. Many of these are due to systemic racism and other oppression.

Examples of negative SDOH for Black boys include:

  • Poor prenatal care and poor pregnancy or birth outcomes
  • Low-quality early childhood education
  • Poverty
  • Unsafe neighborhoods or exposure to community violence
  • Exposure to environmental toxins
  • Discrimination, including harsher discipline
  • Food insecurity
  • Housing instability or lower-quality homes

Health Disparities Among Young Black Boys

Reducing negative SDOH and health disparities improves health equity for young Black boys. Health disparities affect Black boys from birth through early childhood:

  • Two to three times more likely to die than white infants before their first birthday.
  • 50% more likely to be born premature than other racial groups.
  • Exposed to more pollution, lead, and other environmental toxins than white children.
  • Less often diagnosed with a developmental delay or disability than white children.
  • Less likely to get early intervention services before kindergarten.
  • Exposed to more stressful life conditions. These include poverty, violence, separation from loved ones, discrimination, and other trauma.
  • Less likely to be treated for pain and illness. For example, many young Black children with sickle cell disease do not get the care they need. Only 20% get daily antibiotics, and less than half get scans to reduce the risk of stroke.
  • More likely to have untreated tooth decay, at double the rate of white children.
  • Less likely to have access to health and mental health care.
  • Experience harsher discipline in preschool, especially boys with developmental delays or disabilities.
  • Expelled and suspended from preschool at a higher rate than other children.

Head Start Practices That Improve Health Outcomes

Head Start programs improve outcomes for Black boys. The services they offer are a health equity intervention. Head Start programs can reduce health disparities and make sure Black boys start school ready to succeed.

Research shows that Black boys in Head Start programs:

  • Have better access to health insurance and health care
  • Are less likely to be seriously injured
  • Have better cognitive skills and ability to self-regulate

Use these strategies to address health disparities for young Black boys:

  • Help families get access to medical insurance and medical and oral health care.
  • Help families get timely health and developmental assessments and follow-up care.
  • Connect families with food assistance programs.
  • Offer support at home visits. Share information about prenatal care, infant care, breastfeeding/chestfeeding, and mental health.
  • Make sure children get developmental, hearing, and vision screenings, and help with referrals and follow-up to early intervention, preschool special education, and mental health services.
  • Partner with Black health care providers. Include Black dentists, doctors, speech therapists, mental health therapists, doulas, and lactation consultants who can serve the program’s Black families.
  • Connect families with Black-led support groups, educational workshops, and Black spiritual organizations. Community organizations can help connect families with health and mental health services.
  • Involve Black-led organizations in program activities. Invite them to join the Health and Mental Health Services Advisory Committee and family workshops.
  • Discuss the importance of health status in child assessments.
  • Offer family education on how health affects school readiness.
  • Promote health literacy practices.
  • Use strategies to improve behavioral concerns that are used throughout the program (such as the Pyramid Model).
  • Use mental health consultants. Consultants improve social and emotional well-being, reduce behavioral concerns, and improve classroom quality. Consultants also help reduce implicit bias and racial disparities like early childhood expulsion.

Learn More

To learn more ways to improve the health and school readiness of young Black boys, check out these resources:

Read more:

,  School Readiness