A recent study conducted by Dr. Maya Khanna, Associate Professor of Psychology at UNO, focused on lead poisoned children living in Eastern Omaha.
Kara Henner Eastman, President and CEO of Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance, was approached by Khanna her a few years ago about the work Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance was doing regarding lead poisoning prevention in the city.
Eastman suggested Khanna contact the Douglas County Health Department for their help in identifying children who had been exposed to lead and had high levels of lead in their bodies.
Results show that there was a more pronounced negative impact on executive function that on reading readiness in the children.
"She’s taking this information she found and looking at educational interventions for kids who have been exposed to lead to see if maybe we can improve their executive functions. For us, this is really innovative, interesting work because there’s the potential that down the line, doing certain exercises with kids around learning and reading may actually help improve their brain function as they grow older."
Eastman says executive function includes things like decision making ability.
Another important finding of the study was that the boys’ cognitive functioning was more negatively impacted than the girls.
Eastman says lead poisoning is still the number one environmental hazard to children.