Children who live in “low-opportunity” neighborhoods are up to 20 times more likely to be shot than those living in “high-opportunity” areas, according to a new study led by Northwestern University researchers.

The team looked at nearly 7,000 pediatric gun injuries in the states of Florida, Maryland, New York and Wisconsin between 2016 and 2021. The researchers paired those records with data that ranks neighborhoods based on education, health and socioeconomic factors.

Dr. Anne Stey, a senior study author and Northwestern Medicine trauma surgeon, said their findings show the fewer opportunities a child has in their neighborhood, the higher the odds of them ending up in the hospital with a gun injury.

“This is certainly very striking,” Stey said.

She said the findings were especially su

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