[Torus34]

As a scientist, mappings are part of my mental tool kit. Though now retired I still make use of them, even if only for my own amusement. One that I've started to investigate is something of a cliché. It's the one which likens a child growing up in a neighborhood to a plant growing up in a garden. We've all heard it before many times.

But let's look a bit more closely. I grow vegetables in my gardens, among other things. As they grow I observe them carefully to see what they need: soil structure/composition, water, nutrients and light are the basic categories. Science has provided much information and I make use of it. Are the cucumbers in one bed growing more slowly than those in another? If so, what's the difference between the two locations? Are certain tomatoes ripening improperly? If so, why is it happening?

You get the picture. I oversee the growing process and do what I can to optimize it based on what I can observe and what I know of it.

Now let's return to the other part of the mapping. Here in the US of A we have some communities in which child growth's not even close to optimal. Children grow up warped in mind and sometimes in body. In some communities the mortality rate is considerably higher than the norm, not to mention the ideal. Checking through the records of poor growth indices vs. time we find that little is happening in the way of improvement.

As I walk through my garden, looking at this plant and that, fertilizing and watering here and there, I cannot help but wonder what organizations are doing a map-able job with regard to the children in some of our communities. And what is the tool-kit of useful knowledge that they are attempting to bring to bear on the deficiencies whose effects they see?

Are they, perhaps, attempting to apply political ideology when nutrition of mind and body are called for?