Focusing on families with children under the age of 6 years whose incomes fall below the federal poverty level, this monograph provides the first comprehensive overview and assessment of the literature of the past decade concerning policies and programs addressing the health needs of children in poverty. Chapter One introduces themes in the complex relationship between economic disadvantage and health among young children. Chapter Two outlines the history of health services in the United States for children, giving particular attention to program effectiveness. Chapters Three, Four, Five, and Six review the ways in which poor children's health is worse than that of nonpoor children, summarize the health problems of specific populations of poor children, explore how poverty can affect health status, and describe the personal health care patterns of poor families. Chapter Seven demonstrates that many programs work, whether they are community-oriented or personal health services, such as maternity or infant/child care. Chapter Eight looks to the future, comparing and contrasting policy aproaches to improving children's health, and offering programmatic recommendations. Supplementing the text are a glossary of 48 terms and programs, 379 references, 18 figures, 4 tables and the names, addresses, and titles of staff of the National Center for Children in Poverty. (RH)