Coping with Stress in Early Childhood. - Week 4

Stress is a condition in which an individual experiences challenges to physical or emotional well-being that overwhelm their coping capacity. Some stress is normal and can be healthy, while some experience with manageable stress is important for healthy development, prolonged, uninterrupted, overwhelming stress can have toxic effects and affect normal development of the child. This type of toxic stress is often associated with childhood abuse and neglect, parental style of discipline, poverty, noise, pollution, isolation or even hunger.
As a child, growing up was fun and loving but quite stressful because of always wanting to live up to expectation of my parents. My father was a disciplined and high handed man. He had expectations of the type of behavior expected of his first daughter and was always talking about it. His expectations put pressure on me and it became stressful. I always wanted to behave well and be in daddy’s good book. How did I cope? My English teacher in school told me one day to be myself. “You are a good girl, just do what you know is right, don’t try to impress anyone, then you will get approval of all,” she said to me. That statement immediately removed the pressure of wanting to “perform” from me and gave me confidence to do what I know to be right.
Working with children to become healthy individual is a big task. All the domains must be developing at the right time and so anything that could impede the proper development must be removed because of longer term effect it has on the formed adult.
I chose to find out if there is any possible cause of stress that can impact the development of children in United States of America, given the high level of development there. I was shocked to discover that there is a high level of poverty which is affecting children at an alarming rate.
NOTE THIS:

Nearly 13 million American children live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level, which is $20,000 a year for a family of four. The number of children living in poverty increased by more than 11 percent between 2000 and 2005. There are 1.3 million more children living in poverty today than in 2000, despite indications of economic recovery and growth.

Poverty is especially prevalent among black, Latino, and American Indian children.

·         35% of black children live in poor families. In the 10 most populated states, rates of child poverty among black children range from 20% in New Jersey to 43% in Ohio.

·         28% of Latino children live in poor families. In the 10 most populated states, rates of child poverty among Latino children range from 20% in New Jersey, Florida, and Illinois to 35% in Texas.

·         29% of American Indian and 11% of Asian children live in poor families (comparable state comparisons are not possible due to small sample sizes).

·         10% of white children live in poor families. In the 10 most populated states, rates of child poverty among white children range from 4% in New Jersey to 12% in Georgia.

Having immigrant parents increases a child’s chances of being poor.

·         26% of children of immigrants are poor; 16% of children of native-born parents are poor. (Children living with one immigrant parent and one native-born parent are not included.)

·         In the six states with the largest populations of immigrants—California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Texas—the poverty rate among children of immigrant parents ranges from 14% to 40%.

·         In all six states, children living with immigrant parents are more likely to be poor than children of native-born parents.

Official poverty rates are highest for young children.

·         20% of children under age 6—1 in 5—live in poor families; 16% of children age 6 or older live in poor families.

·         In half the states, more than 20% of children under age 6 are growing up in poverty, whereas only 13 states have a child poverty rate (that is, for children up to age 18) that is as high.

·         Researchers believe that parents of young children do not earn as much as parents of older children because they tend to be younger and have less work experience.

Effect of poverty on the children are seen in high mortality rate evidenced by low birth weight and medical complications arising from poor nutrition, poor housing  and increased risk of accidental deaths.

U.S government is working hard to reduce the effect of poverty in the recognized areas by developing policies that work and can make the difference.

1. Make paychecks worthwhile -   Since research is clear that poverty is the greatest threat to children’s well being, strategies that help parents succeed in the labor force can help children. Policies such as earned income tax credits and regular increases in the minimum wage are critical to supporting income growth for low-wage workers. These workers also need access to benefits that higher-wage earners take for granted, such as health insurance and paid sick leave.

2. Support families and young children - To thrive, children need nurturing families and quality early learning experiences. Programs that target families with infants and toddlers, such as Early Head Start, have been shown to improve children’s cognitive development and their behavior, as well as parenting skills. Investments in preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds are just as critical. High-quality early childhood experiences can go a long way toward closing the achievement gap between poor children and their more well-off peers.

Nutrition and Malnutrition

This is an essential part of Public health. The effect of nutrition does not just stay with the individual; it has lasting consequences on the community and nation as a whole. Imagine, if a woman is malnourished during pregnancy, or if her child is malnourished during the first two years of life, the child's physical and mental growth and development may be slowed. This cannot be made up when the child is older – it will affect the child for the rest of his or her life. Good nutrition is the first line of defense against numerous childhood diseases, like diarrhea, measles, pneumonia and respiratory diseases etc which can leave their mark on a child for life. In the area of cognitive development, when there isn't enough food, the body has to make a decision about how to invest the limited foodstuffs available t. Survival comes first, Growth comes second. In this nutritional triage, the body seems obliged to rank learning last, and so the skills of communication, ability to think analytically, socialize effectively and adapt to new environment is jeopardized. This is the reason why I believe we cannot ignore focusing on good nutrition and educating our women about it.

Malnutrition is an abnormal physiological condition caused by deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in energy, protein and/or other nutrients. Undernutrition is when the body contains lower than normal amounts of one or more nutrients i.e. deficiencies in macronutrients and/or micronutrients. The most pervasive form of malnutrition to date in the poorest countries is undernutrition. Malnourished or undernourished children are not able to grow functionally and will eventually cost the resources of the nation in various intervention measures later.

The effect of under nutrition on young children (ages 0-8) can be devastating and enduring. It can impede behavioral and cognitive development, educability, and reproductive health, thereby undermining future work productivity. Since growth failure occurs almost exclusively during the intrauterine period and in the first two years of life, preventing stunting, anemia, or infections calls for interventions, which focus on the very young and their mothers. Attention should be on what mothers feed on in pregnancy that can affect the proper development of their fetus and impede their own optimal health during delivery.

Good nutrition and good health are very closely linked throughout the lifespan, but the connection is even more striking during infancy. Over half of child mortality in low-income countries can be attributed to malnutrition. Nutritional deficiency leads majorly to Anemia and various infections which affect the productivity of the whole nation.

 Many of the most prevalent infections and diseases -- acute diarrhea, malaria, measles, and intestinal parasites-- tend to achieve their highest incidence during the early childhood (here defined as from birth to age eight) phase and claim millions of young lives a year. Stunted physical growth and development have been traditionally viewed as the major consequence of ill health in early childhood, but there is now growing recognition that there are also consequences for mental and intellectual development. The long-term consequences of events in early childhood for human capital and productivity are difficult to assess directly, but associations have been shown with proxy measures such as physical growth. Stunting is associated with reduced physiological capacity and work output, and reduced physical growth and poor educational achievement both have negative consequences for employability. 

I looked at different parts of the world and found out that nutrition is a world concern. Africa, Asia and some developing countries are facing grave danger. Direct focus is on the horn of Africa by the World Food Program (WFP). The Horn of Africa encompasses Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Kenya. It’s one of the most food insecure regions in the world, characterized by frequent droughts and conflict. Concern about the impact of drought in the region escalated in June, when the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, FEWSNET, reported that this year was among the driest since 1950. About 750,000 people may die of starvation and these include children.

Drought in the Horn of Africa, coupled with conflict in Somalia, has affected over 13 million people. WFP is implementing food operations in five countries in the region (Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda).

I find this quotation very touching and highly relevant. Think about it.

"We are guilty of many errors and many faults, but our worst crime is abandoning the children, neglecting the foundation of life. Many of the things we need can wait. The child cannot. Right now is the time his bones are being formed, his blood is being made and his senses are being developed.

To him we cannot answer 'Tomorrow'. His name is 'Today'."
Gabriela Mistral, 1948

Let us provide good nutrition today.

The begining of new life - My experience at giving birth.

Life is indeed precious. My new knowledge of  early childhood development with emphasis on prenatal development through birth has given me deep appreciation  for the privilege of haing a good prenatal care and safe delivery.
I have had the opportunity of giving birth four times and they were all wonderful experiences, with my husband haing the privilege of witnessing two of the deliveries. I was registered for antenatal care as soon as preganccy was confirmed usually by six weeks of gestation. I attended a welll built and purposefully furnished and well equiped hospital with professionally qualified medical pesoneel. Medical care was regular and available 24hrs. At every viist for clinical check up, the progress of the foetus was monitored and explained to me. Urine tests, protein tests were done, and blood pressure was properly monitored. I benefited a great deal from modern technology hence ultra scan was done at regular intervals.
I was educated about the process of labour and the first expereincw was very academic. I read books and prepared mentally, psychologically and physically to have the baby. The medical attendants gave assuarance that everything was progressing fine. I think it was great. The delivery process started as it was explained but not as straightforward. It was really painful, and almost unbearable, but the presence of careful nurses and assistants, helped to relive the pain, I was finally given an induction since the dilation process was becoming slow. I finally put my first baby to bed after being in labour for close to 12hrs. The sliding on the baby through the birth carnal was intriguing.
The joy of seeing the new baby boy cancelled the pain and I felt the warmth of caring my own baby and trying to feed, hoo,hoo, after pains came and I must confess, no one taught me that before and so I was shocked to find myself in deep pain each time I tried to feeed my baby, it was later explained to me as my uterus trying to contract back to shape and that it was  good for my health. In all, it was an experience of a lifetime.

Other experiences: In a developing country, what I have just described does not happen in all cases. My research and investigations reveal that many women still prefer to have their babies at home or at local delivery centres. They are only taken to Government hospitals when there is an emergency. Because of this, they have no access to quality prenatal teachings to give them understanding about the development of their young baby and what they can do ensure that they are healthy, education about nuitrition, basic hygiene and ready to have a healthy baby too.. Many disabilities are looked at as satanic and in cultural context treated with herbs which are not really effective. As a result of this infant mortality and maternal mortality is unfortunately still high.
Public enlightenment and campaign are needed and more government delivery centres may help in the education of mothers to take up the challenge of ensuring optimal health for themselves and their unborn child.