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The National Urban League released its annual report on the State of Black America on Tuesday, and its findings are grim. This year’s Equality Index shows Black people still get only 73.9 percent of the American pie white people enjoy. ... Among dozens of health measures, one stands out: Life expectancy has declined slightly for African Americans, so a Black child born today can expect to live to 74.7, four years less than a white baby. And lifelong inequities loom: Black women are 59% more likely to die as a result of bearing a child, and 31% more likely to die of breast cancer. Black men are 52% more likely to die of prostate cancer. (Warren, 4/12)

In the western United States, where massive wildfires have fouled the air with smoke and hazardous levels of pollutants, Santosh Pandipati, an obstetrician in California, counsels pregnant patients to always check air quality before they venture outside to exercise. “You need to plan your outdoor activities when the air quality is better,” he tells them. In other parts of the country, where hurricanes and floods have displaced pregnant residents, obstetrician Nathaniel DeNicola has advised patients, including those he saw in New Orleans, to pack a preparedness kit. (Kam,m 4/11)

When the pediatrician recommended Lisa Pascoe have her then-toddler tested for lead poisoning, she thought there was no way he could be at risk. Everything in her South St. Louis home had been remodeled. But then the nurse called to say her son's blood lead level was dangerously high — five times the level federal health officials then deemed elevated. Pascoe said she was "completely shocked." "After you hang up on the phone, you kind of go through this process of 'Oh my gosh, my kid is lead poisoned. What does that mean? What do I do?'" she said. (Kite and Savage, 4/11)

What recent research makes clear so far is that microplastics are ubiquitous, that these particles enter peoples’ bodies regularly during inhalation or through consumption of food or drinks, and that they find their way into vital body systems. Some studies of laboratory animals and cells grown outside the body suggest that there are reasons for concern about how these minuscule pieces of plastics affect our physiology. (Bush, 4/11)

The United States is experiencing an extreme teenage mental-health crisis. From 2009 to 2021, the share of American high-school students who say they feel “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” rose from 26 percent to 44 percent, according to a new CDC study. This is the highest level of teenage sadness ever recorded. The government survey of almost 8,000 high-school students, which was conducted in the first six months of 2021, found a great deal of variation in mental health among different groups. More than one in four girls reported that they had seriously contemplated attempting suicide during the pandemic, which was twice the rate of boys. Nearly half of LGBTQ teens said they had contemplated suicide during the pandemic, compared with 14 percent of their heterosexual peers. Sadness among white teens seems to be rising faster than among other groups. (Thompson, 4/11)

Educators working in low-income schools reported that 53% of students struggle with mental health issues, a problem that was worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new survey from educational nonprofit First Book and Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s On Our Sleeves alliance. Yet only 20% of the 967 educators surveyed feel prepared to support those struggling students, the study found. By assessing the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on students and providing guidance for educators, the two organizations hope to address what they say is an urgent need for mental health support in low-income schools, said Becki Last, First Book's chief programming officer. (Wright, 4/11)

Doing regular mindfulness exercises on a mobile app helped a group of Fox Valley adolescents banish stubborn negative thoughts, new research from a Lawrence University professor has found. The results add to a field with little prior examination and can help shed light on which kinds of tools help teens feel better, said Lori Hilt, an associate professor of psychology at Lawrence who led the study. "We don't have very much research on mindfulness interventions for kids, especially mobile apps," Hilt said. "So I think this study is really important as kind of a proof of concept that these things can work." (Hilton and Heim, 4/11)