dren are especially effected by all of these factors. Separate research by Flores, Bauchner, Feinstein and Ngyuen (1999) looks at children in particular. Their study concentrated on Puerto Rican, Mexican, Cuban, African American, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander and White children and compare their health, as reported by parents. They determined that Puerto Rican, Mexican, African American, Native Americans and Asian/ Pacific Islander children all have overall poorer health than their White peers. They found that these children saw a physician less often, spent more time in bed for illness, were hospitalized more often, and were rated generally in poorer health compared to White children. Flores, Bauchner and Feinstein accounted for these discrepancies not to just a lack of health care insurance coverage. Many of these children were fully insured. They accounted these disparities to several things. Cultural differences, unable to communicate with health personnel because of language differences, folk illness and parental beliefs, as well as provider practices were the reasons they attributed to health disparities among minority status children. Much of the other research tends to agree that a lack of education about health issues is a part of the problem.All of these factors can help explain the health disparities between socioeconomic and racial and ethnic groups but they cannot excuse it. Secondary factors are that these children suffer in school as well. Most of the research talks about the lack of education accounting for low health. I did not find any research that talked about how ill health impacts a childs education. Maybe partly, because it seems so obvious. Yet, it needs to be discussed. Days missed because of illness, days spent in the school infirmary and, days spent in class not feeling well because a parent does not have health insurance or cannot take off work to take their children to a doctor, ac...
