Vulnerability of Children
There are numerous factors that add to the vulnerability of children and their families. The most outstanding factor is the socioeconomic status of the family (Cleaver et al., 2011). It plays a big role because it affects the family’s ability to obtain sufficient food and of good quality to the whole family including the children. Good nutrition plays a key role in good health of a person. People of a lower social, economic status often do not get good nutrition leaving them vulnerable to diseases. Secondly these people often do not have health insurance or money to afford proper medical care when they fall ill. Lower social, economic status is also linked to lower educational levels. This too is a contributing factor of venerability as these people may lack the information to protect themselves from some preventable diseases (Acemoglu and Robinson, 2012 )Lower social economic status can also be linked to poor housing, with poor ventilation, lack of house warming or cooling systems at times poor drainage and all these pose a health risk leaving such people vulnerable to diseases (Cleaver et al,2011). It has been noted that the ethnicity of a person may also contribute to their vulnerability ethnic minority groups often have lower social economic status and institutionalized racism in many sectors including health care may leave the ethnic minority group unable to obtain health care from voluntary and public hospitals leading to vulnerability of this group (Diamond, 2011 ).
How food insecurity and lack of access to dental and health care can impact young children's healthy growth and development
Food insecurity has several impacts on young children's healthy growth and development. First if the child do not get sufficient nutrition they risk being underweight and this will lead to delay in achieving developmental milestones, lack of important nutrients such as calcium will lead to poor bone formation, lack of iron may lead to anemia among other health complications (Acemoglu and Robinson, 2012) Also children who do not feed well fall ill more often. A household that is food insecure also has parents that are often depressed due to lack of their ability to provide to their children and such parents may unknowingly let out their frustrations to the children leading to poor emotional development in the children (Levy,2011)Most socio-economically disadvantaged children do not get access to proper dental care, the main dental disease that affect them is dental caries (Diamond, 2011 ). It is due to lack of proper oral hygiene, and the untreated dental cavities may lead to loss of teeth later in life. Also, when the gums get infected these children miss school. Lack of proper medical attention denies these children immunization that would help prevent many preventable diseases, also when these children fall sick and do not get prompt proper medical care some conditions whose deterioration may lead to life threatening conditions are not attended to leaving these children exposed to medical complications later in life (Levy, 2011).All these negatively impact a child’s healthy growth and development.
Resources child development professionals should be aware of in order to support families facing vulnerability, food insecurity and lack of access to dental and health care.
There are numerous institutions that are involved in child welfare support in the world some of these include:
• Global Action Fund through, Save the Child organization, this body gives vulnerable children in the U.S. and other places around the world a healthy start at life by providing good nutrition and health care to children under their care. They also provide them with an opportunity to learn and protection them from harm. Their contact is Save the Children | 1.800.728.3843 | 501 Kings Highway East, Fairfield, CT 06825.
• Child’s Dream is a charitable, not-for-profit organization that works to empower marginalized children and youth. They achieve this by partnering with communities to improve the educational and health provision for the children and youth. Their activities include provision of health care to children to reduce child mortality, building educational facilities to provide education to children and sponsoring youth for secondary and tertiary education, their contact is :Phone: +66(0)53 201 811, website is childsdream.org.
• United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF) This organization works with vulnerable children in provision of health care including vaccinations, provision of basic education, offer child protection from violence, exploitation and advocacy for children’s rights. Their contact is UNICEF (800)367-5437/125 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038.
References
Acemoglu, D., & Robinson, J. A. (2012). Why nations fail: The origins of power, prosperity, and poverty. London.
Cleaver, H., Unell, I., Aldgate, J., & Great Britain. (2011). Children's needs, parenting capacity: Child abuse: parental mental illness, learning disability, substance misuse, and domestic violence.
Diamond, J. (2011). Collapse: How societies choose to fail or survive. Penguin.
Levy, B. S. (2011). Occupational and environmental health: Recognizing and preventing disease and injury. New York: Oxford University Press.
