From an early age, children spend many hours interacting with screens: phones, tablets, and laptops. A new policy brief from the Child Health Policy Program explains the importance of unstructured free play for healthy child development and recommends four policy approaches to reduce screen time and ensure children’s well-being in the digital age.
Ann Lê, Katarina Reyes, Ethan T. Hunt, Christopher F. Kulesza, Zoabe HafeezApril 5, 2024
Non-medical drivers of health, also known as social determinants of health, have a significant impact on health outcomes. As fellow Sandra McKay and her co-authors explain, adequate funding to identify and address non-medical drivers — housing and food insecurity, transport issues, and financial strain — can improve patients’ health and health care delivery systems, while also reducing costs.
The number of children walking and biking to school has been in decline for more than 50 years, yet associated death and injury rates remain high. In a new brief, nonresident fellow Zoabe Hafeez and co-author Shruti Natarajan review child pedestrian and bicyclist injuries in Houston, analyzing the worst hotspots and identifying how infrastructure improvements can have outsized benefits.
If implemented, the Handle with Care program could provide a significant opportunity to help students facing trauma, write scholar Christopher Kulesza and co-author Abigail Levine. Their new policy brief urges Texas legislators to enact the program statewide.
Christopher F. Kulesza, Abigail LevineFebruary 16, 2023
As the judicial battle over Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates continues, the authors argue that the most effective way to protect children from COVID-19 is to require masks in schools. Click below for their full list of policy recommendations, including what exceptions should be made, and when and how to end school mask requirements.
Quianta Moore, Christopher F. KuleszaDecember 9, 2021
Experts from the Center for Energy Studies offer nine climate policy recommendations for the Biden administration and argue that a bipartisan legislative push could accelerate a move toward significant action on climate change.
Jim Krane, Kenneth B. Medlock III, Mark Finley, Michael D. MaherJanuary 20, 2021