A provocative new study shows that teenagers living in East Baltimore face many of the same living conditions as children living in third world countries.

The “WAVE” study, a global research project examining the well-being of children between 15 and 19-years-old, focuses on what is considered “vulnerable” environments around the world.  The study looked at Ibadan, Nigeria; Johannesburg, South Africa; New Delhi, India; Shanghai, China and Baltimore Maryland.

Factors studied included physical environment,  social cohesion and how often they are exposed to violence in their community.

The study showed that in all five cities the teens were exposed to unsanitary conditions such as trash piled in the street, abandoned buildings infested with rats and used drug paraphernalia in fields and yards.

However, teens in Baltimore and Johannesburg, which are considered “wealthy” cities, consider their living conditions to be negative and had worse outcomes when it came to health issues.

Baltimore was worst in the list of cities when it came to social cohesion and was not best rated in any category.