Human Growth and Development
Introduction.
The best possible start in life is essential to all children since child development in the early age places a foundation from which later health and development erupt. Children living in families who are relatively well-off feel secure regarding living conditions and access to a range of opportunities (Evans, 2016). Those from the low-income families have poorer health outcomes which affect them from childhood to adulthood as illustrated in this article.
Children encountering poverty before the age of nine are vulnerable and can develop behavioral disorders, chronic conditions and also end up having premature death (Evan and Cassells, 2014). Moreover, poverty can make children adapt and get used to harsh financial situations and even end up developing ”helplessness” behaviors. The effects go on to undermine their academic achievement making the gap between them and groups from high-income families even bigger.
Childhood poverty also exposes the child to physical and psychological risks such as family turmoil, exposure to violence and housing problems. These issues may impact negatively on the life of the child leading to mental impairment in adulthood.
The negative impact of childhood requires interventions that will then make childhood experience a preparation for aging. The responses will include reducing poverty by advocating for healthy public policies and practices as well as preventing the negative impact for those who have lived in low-income families via various programs and services (Sandel et al., 2016). The interventions will range from reduction of cost of essential commodities making them affordable and promoting attachment of parents to labor forces where they can get income via training and job creation. Besides, another intervention encompasses at ensuring adequate income for the families which provision through direct transfers for instance in the increased social assistance rates provides its achievement.
Conclusion.
The experience children have what awaits them in future. Since it is the period of growth and development, childhood poverty denies the children access to various issues to exploit as well as exposing to negative familial experiences. Childhood poverty creates a harsh environment which impairs their childhood development as well as placing negative influence on the adulthood health. This calls for mitigation of the poverty at the family level to prepare the children for healthy aging.
Reference:
Evans, G. W. (2016). Childhood poverty and adult psychological well-being. Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, 113(52), 14949-14952.
Evans, G. W., & Cassells, R. C. (2014). Childhood poverty, cumulative risk exposure, and
mental health in emerging adults. Clinical Psychological Science, 2(3), 287-296.
Nikulina, V., Widom, C. S., &Czaja, S. (2011). The role of childhood neglect and childhood
poverty in predicting mental health, academic achievement and crime in adulthood.
American journal of community psychology, 48(3-4), 309-321.
Sandel, M., Faugno, E., Mingo, A., Cannon, J., Byrd, K., Garcia, D. A.,& Jarrett, R. B.
(2016). Neighborhood-level interventions to improve childhood opportunity and lift
children out of poverty. Academic pediatrics, 16(3), S128-S135.
