Although three years have passed since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States, the devastating effects are still visible today. With more than 1800 people reported dead and more than $81 billion in damage, specialists wondered whether or not the region would ever recover. The most tragic aspect of this disaster was the destruction of home across Louisiana and Mississippi, especially in low to middle-income neighborhoods. Tens of thousands of people lost not only their homes but their entire community as well. Three years later after the disaster, the things are still looking bleak in many parts of the region.

According to a new report from Columbia University and the Children’s Health Fund (a non-profit group that provides health care to children) released Monday, dozens of infants and toddlers living in a Louisiana’s trailer park for those displaced by the hurricane are anemic because of poor diets.

The report reviewed medical records of 261 children who lived in a federally funded Baton Rouge trailer park until early summer. It is the first time when children’s medical and mental health are reviewed after the hurricane.

One of the most alarming findings was that 41 percent of children younger than 4 were diagnosed with anemia, more than double the rate of children living in New York City homeless shelters, says Irwin Redlener, president of the group and the study's author. Iron deficiency anemia can cause fatigue and learning problems. Severe deficiency in very young children can delay growth and development and even cause heart murmurs.

“This is a very big problem that has not been focused on at all in the Gulf Coast. The recovery from Katrina was actually handled far worse even than the initial response. It's just disappeared from public view with an assumption that whatever was done is over,” Redlener says.

The researchers also found that 55 percent of elementary-school-aged children had a behavior or learning problem, 42 percent of children were diagnosed with allergic rhinitis, known as hay fever, and/or upper respiratory infection, and 24 percent had a cluster of upper respiratory, allergic and skin ailments.

Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a long-term study of children who lived in federally issued trailers and mobile homes in Louisiana and Mississippi, hundreds of which were found to have high levels of toxins, including formaldehyde. The chemical is a common preservative and embalming fluid, used in the manufacture of the trailers. It can cause respiratory problems such as bronchitis and is known to cause cancer. In fact, formaldehyde has been classified as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Tens of thousands of people were displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and were provided with temporary housing by the government. Nearly 48,000 households continue to live in the trailers and mobile homes.