Cigarette smoke: Research has shown that another factor affecting the health of children in low-income families is cigarette smoke . Factors such as low income, renting a home, blue-collar employment, and less than high school education lead to stress that contributes to the higher percentage of African American smokers (Siegal and Faigeles , 1996). People living below the poverty line are more likely to smoke (32%) and less likely to smoke than those living above the poverty line (23.8%) (Flint and Novotny, 1997). The need to work two or more jobs with multiple children and a parent in prison increases the stress on a family who must provide food and shelter. Children who grow up in a home where family members smoke increase the chances that they will smoke. This can affect a child's development as well as the choices the individual makes as they grow up. Smoking also leads to low birth weight and increased infant mortality, which again affects child health (Aber et al., 1997). Financial stresses such as low income, long-term unemployment and poor housing conditions are factors that lead to smoking. Although smoking is a way to relieve stress, the cost of cigarettes causes psychological and financial stress (Siahpush, 2003). Socioeconomic stress is correlated with health problems such as higher mortality, cardiovascular disease, cancer, low birth weight, hypertension, and diabetes (Adler and Newman, 2002). Due to stress at home, the child's health may not be a priority and smoking cessation is not common. Environment: A child's environment has a major role in their health. Fifty-six percent of people who live in communities surrounded by toxic industries are people of color and...... middle of paper ....../2013pubs/p60-245.pdfU.S. Ministry of Agriculture, ERS Report Summary. (2009, June). Access to affordable and nutritious food. Retrieved from http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/242654/ap036_reportsummary_1_.pdfU.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Office of Maternal and Child Health. (2011). Child Health USA 2011. Rockville, Maryland: US Department of Health and Human Services. University of Michigan. Western, Bruce. (2009). Punishment and inequality in America. In E. Higginbotham & M. L. Anderson (Eds.), Race and ethnicity in society: The Changing Landscape (3rd ed.). (pp. 396-400). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Why Racial and Ethnic Disparities Persist,” Ann Arbor, MI: National Poverty Center, Wong, DL and Hockenberry, MJ (2007). Wong's Nursing Care of Infants and Children (8th ed.). St. Louis, Missouri: Mosby/Elsevier.