Environmental Burden and School Readiness in an Urban County: Implications for Communities to Promote Healthy Child Development

Rebecca J. Bulotsky-Shearer (), Casey Mullins, Abby Mutic, Carin Molchan, Elizabeth Campos, Scott C. Brown and Ruby Natale
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Rebecca J. Bulotsky-Shearer: Department of Psychology, College of Arts & Sciences, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA
Casey Mullins: Department of Psychology, College of Arts & Sciences, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA
Abby Mutic: Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Carin Molchan: Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Elizabeth Campos: Department of Psychology, College of Arts & Sciences, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA
Scott C. Brown: Department of Public Health Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA
Ruby Natale: Department of Pediatrics, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-26

Abstract: Geographic disparities threaten equitable access for children to health-promoting safe green spaces, and quality early education in the communities in which they live and grow. To address gaps in the field, we integrated the fields of developmental psychology, public health, and environmental science to examine, at the population level, associations between the environmental burden, socioeconomic vulnerability, and kindergarten readiness in a diverse urban county. Three administrative datasets were integrated through an early childhood data sharing research partnership in Miami-Dade County. The Bruner Child Raising Vulnerability Index, the five domains of the Environmental Burden module from the Environmental Justice Index, and public school kindergarten readiness scores were aggregated at the census tract level. Analysis of variance and multiple regression analyses found associations between socioeconomic vulnerability and race/ethnicity. The socioeconomic vulnerability levels were highest in census tracts with a higher percentage of Black residents, compared to all other races/ethnicities. Areas of greater social vulnerability had lower kindergarten readiness and a higher environmental burden. A higher environmental burden predicted lower kindergarten readiness scores above and beyond race/ethnicity and socioeconomic vulnerability. The findings advance our understanding of global challenges to sustainable healthy child development, such as the persistence of a disproportionate environmental burden and inequitable access to resources such as green spaces and early education programs. The present study results can inform community health improvement plans to reduce risk exposures and promote greater access to positive environmental and educational resources for all children.

Keywords: environmental burden; community socioeconomic risk; sustainable child well-being; school readiness; early child education; environmental pollution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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