Angelica Langford

Eportfolio Assignment

Discussion: When should kids be kept indoors?

1. In Utah, because air quality during winter can be bad, the EPA and department of health put

a limit on how much bad air is too much for schoolchildren. This means, that on bad air days,

children must stay inside during recess. When a chemical level called PM 2.5 is in the “red

zone” all children must stay inside. I was unaware of recess restrictions based on air quality

in Utah. I don’t remember ever having recess inside due to bad air, it was always just due to

bad weather. The Utah department of health has articles pertaining to this topic. I chose to

write about the article containing information about asthma and socioeconomic status

correlation. In this article, graphs and charts explain how asthma is correlated to people in

lower socioeconomic statuses, unemployment, annual household incomes under 25,000 and

lack of health insurance. This article is a strong proponent of reaching out to populations that

are uninsured and promoting education about air quality and asthma. They also wanted to

promote education on resources and medications available to those struggling with

respiratory issues. The highest proportions of uninsured adults with asthma in Utah are

TriCounty, Central and Southeastern Utah. The considerations taken in this article are to

adults who have capability of acquiring health insurance, and the Asthma program’s

acknowledgement of target populations of need.

2. I chose Salt Lake County, because that’s where my home is, although currently I’m in

Louisville, KY. All children would be allowed recess today because of the air quality being

in the green range. The Air Quality Index (AQI) today is in between 0-100, which is green
 and yellow. That means that the PM 2.5 is low enough for all children to be outside. If it

were 101-150, it wouldn’t be recommended for sensitive populations. If 150 or above, it is

considered too high PM 2.5 and would be unhealthy for all children to be outside. 301-500

would be considered hazardous. Considering ground-level ozone is one of our biggest

pollutants, high ozone levels have an effect on AQI as well.

3. Invitation to the Lifespan has some interesting remarks on asthma that are different than the

common asthma here in Utah due in part by bad air quality. In fact, this text book doesn’t

really cover air quality much at all. This book argues that some instances of asthma are due

to pollution, airtight windows, mold, cockroaches, etc. and that asthma rates have tripled in

the last few years in America. Pp. 244. When it comes to socioeconomic status, however, this

textbook has quite a bit to say (pp. 212, 301,etc) , so I’m using it in reference to the article

above. Socioeconomic status is defined by a person’s income, occupation, place of residence,

and education (g-12). Because Invitation to the Lifespan has a lot to say about obesity pp

244-247 and socioeconomic status, I would argue asthma falls into that same category.

People who walk or bike instead of drive, who don’t have insurance to avoid high copays for

albuterol, who don’t get vaccinated and thereby get respiratory illnesses such as pertussis that

predisposes them to weaker lungs, people who smoke cigarettes socially and who work in

jobs that secondhand smoke is inhaled frequently. These are all factors. Socioeconomic

status is a big predisposition on whether or not a child or adult gets a particular illness.

4. I think the website is helpful, easy to understand, and informative. One reason I like it is that

people of any SES can utilize the information on the website, whether by using a personal

computer or going to their local library. The video provided useful information about air

quality that I hadn’t heard of before. I chose to make the comment I did because health issues
in regards to socioeconomic status is a topic that interests me. I am going to be a nurse

practitioner and perhaps work in urban areas for scholarship purposes. Learning about this

helps me think of many other ways that SES can effect healthcare in America today. I also

want to dig into this more and brainstorm ways that would help people who aren’t able to

afford many of the things that are seemingly a “freedom” of that is promised to people in

America.