Policy solutions to eliminate racial and ethnic pediatric health disparities in the United States

Societal systems act individually and in concert to create and perpetuate structural racism through both policies and practices at the local, state, and federal levels that, in turn, generate racial health disparities. Both current and historical policy approaches across multiple sectors including but not limited to housing, employment, health insurance, immigration and criminal legal, have the potential to impact racial child health equity. Policies within each sector must be considered with a lens towards structural racism to understand which policy levers have the potential to eliminate or at least attenuate such disparities. Policy efforts that do not directly address structural racism will not achieve equity and instead worsen gaps and existing disparities in access and quality – thereby continuing to perpetuate a two-tier system dictated by racism. This manuscript describes several policies within multiple sectors which can be modified and supported to improve health equity, and in so doing, improve the health of minoritized children. (author abstract) #HES4A