The development of a child during the early years lays the foundation for the later development and health. Children need to get the best during their early years because it sets the foundation for the subsequent mental and physical development. The income that the family earns determines the healthy development of the child. The children from families that have many resources enjoy more secure, decent living conditions. They have access to a range of opportunities that the low-income families do not get. On average, the children living in poverty-stricken families or the neighborhoods have poor health. Poverty affects the children’s health not only during their younger years but also later in their lives. Poverty continues being a problem in United States and according to research, 17 percent of the American children live in families that have incomes below the Federal poverty level (Maholmes & King, 2012). Poverty damages the physical, emotional and mental stability of the children. The conditions linked to poverty include inadequate nutrition and food, substandard housing, unsafe neighborhoods, inadequate child healthcare, lack of access to health care, under resourced schools and general insecurity. These factors lead to adverse effects to the children. They mental health and development of the children is negatively affected.
Poverty puts children in situations that make them vulnerable to health disadvantages. Children living in poverty are those that experience lack of material, spiritual, emotional resources required for survival, development, and it makes them unable to enjoy their rights. This makes them not to achieve their full potential and participate fully as equal members of the society. The statistics show that 21 percent of the low-income children and youth have mental problems. These children have low intelligent quotients compared to the other children that have adequate resources. Their cognitive development is poor and they experience obstacles in their intellectual development in their first years. The mothers of these children do not adequate pre natal care because they do not have the money or they live far from where the health facilities are. After birth, the children experience less intellectually stimulating activities like books, toys, preschool education and daycare service.
Poor parenting and parent-child interaction affects the mental health and development of the children. The parent often does not have the chance to teach their children and this limits the potential of mental development. These children develop higher rate of mental disabilities than those from rich families. The disabilities include learning disorders, mental retardation, emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and attachment disorders. These mental disabilities affect the ability of children to learn and become successful. This contributes to the pounding cycle of poverty.
The aspects of the mental development affected by poverty are the development of social skills, emotional relationships, self-efficacy and self-esteem. The children living in poverty experience less predictability of security in their environments, which leads to emotional problems. The children develop reactive attachment disorders, depression; conduct disorders, separation anxiety and defiance disorders. They experience the lack of secure relationships from their parents and friends. They receive less or no encouragement causing depression, antisocial behavior, sexual promiscuity, gang involvement, substance abuse and hopelessness. This is evident because these children living in poverty get involved in juvenile and criminal justice cases. They lack exposure to positive modeling by the people in the environment and they experience the lack of social skills required for career and relationship building success. The environment and the stressors of poverty life preoccupy the mind of the children and as a result, they do not engage in any productive activity. The mental disorders like stress and anxiety can contribute to physical problems like ulcers, heart disease and colitis. They also reduce the immunity system of the body making it to become susceptible to conditions extending from common cold to cancer. The children in poverty experience all these problems.
The mental health is important because when a person is free from anxiety, depression, worry and excessive stress he/she is able to life to its fullest. Mental health supports and strengthens the ability of children to have healthy relationships. Poverty affects the children because it denies them the basics of life. The numbers of people committing suicide have mental disorder and research shows that they had a bad foundation in their childhood years. These suicides occur in highly populated areas where people who experience poverty live. This is because stressors of poverty pressure them and leads them commit suicide. Poverty denies children an opportunity to make important choices that relate to their future life. (Brooks-Gunn & Duncan, 1997). Poverty strips children of chances of exploiting their talents that their mind is capable of taking them. The facilities in schools are limited and this is where the children get their foundation on development of their brains. The government now spends funds on programs to reduce the poverty levels in the United States. When the children get the best foundation, the nation will make greater strides in terms of development.
References
Brooks-Gunn, J., & Duncan, G. J. (1997). The effects of poverty on children. The future of children, 55-71.
Maholmes, V., & King, R. B. (2012). The Oxford handbook of poverty and child development. New York: Oxford University Press.
