Children living in neighborhoods with high levels of gun violence were 20% less likely to be reported in excellent or very good health compared with children in areas with lower levels of gun violence, according to a new study from the ECHO Cohort. The association was consistent across age groups and especially pronounced in high-poverty neighborhoods, where children exposed to gun violence were 23% less likely to be reported in excellent health.

The study included more than 13,450 children from birth to age 17 from 56 ECHO Cohort Study Sites across the United States. Researchers linked data on neighborhood gun violence, collected from the Gun Violence Archive, with parent-reported child health measures, while accounting for individual and neighborhood sociodemographic factors.

“This research highlights the profound impact of gun violence on the well-being of children, underscoring the critical importance of community-level violence prevention efforts and policies in fostering safer and healthier communities,” said study author Nandita Somayaji, MHS, MEd, of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

These findings point to the importance of gun violence prevention strategies that can create safer environments for children.

This collaborative research titled “Associations between neighborhood-level gun violence and child general health status: An ECHO Cohort analysis” was published in Injury.