Stress on Children's Development

In August 2005, a major disaster happened in New Orleans, Loiusiana it was called Hurricane Katrina.  My husband is a native of Louisana born and raised with many family members spread throughout the state including New Orleans.  In August 2005 his family was devastated by the hurricane that destroyed New Orleans and their home.  His sister Tonya and her three children ages 4-12 were sent to to the Superdome to ride out the storm, and were changed forever.  The devastation and the facts of assults ans sexual battery were true and all around.  She states their was no security in the building that could really help anyone and that once the storm actually approached land the lights went out and all hell broke loose.  Fortunately she stayed in a nearby opening in the hall but she said she could hear the cries and screaming of women being dragged and men fighting and children cying.  Somthing that was very hard to hear and hard for her to say.  My nieces and my one nephew do not talk about the devastation they experienced, losing their home and all their belongings, walking along the streets that were once familiar but now flooded with dead bodies.  Stranded for a day with no food or water helpless with my sister not being able to reassure them of anything but that they will be okay.  Our dad and their grandpa could not get to New Orleans for two days because of road damage and flooding but he was able to locate my sister on the third day and he stated he will never forget the frightening looks on all their faces as they cried and cried.  My nieces and nephew are not the same anymore.  Instead of their love for watersports and New Orleans they told my sister in law they wanted to stay in Alexandria where their was no large bodies of water to surround them.  The effects of that hurricane have taken everything that is "normal" to my nieces and nephew. The months of nightmares and anxirty they experienced even with family around was overwhelming for them.  They continue to experience nightmares every once in awhile waking up screaming in cold sweats, but they do not talk about their experience to anyone not even my sister in law.  My nieces and nephew are victims of a tragedy in which their innocence was taken away and the reality of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has set in..... In a survey of 2,362 children effected by Hurricane Katrina by LSU health systems that survey stated that children that were exposed to Hurricane Katrina, experienced severe symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress. In fact, this study found that about half of the children experienced high levels of depression and posttraumatic stress symptoms.  Once you take away the childlike elements of being a child and put real life trauma and situatations of adult like stress it takes away a part of the soul of the child no matter how resilant we think they are in the world.


I think after seeing my nieces and nephew and my fear of tornadoes that I experience as a child, the curiosity of the children of Japan and the tsunami also wanted me to find out more information on the stress they developed because of a natural disaster.  In reading the Japan earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear reaction the major concern for many parents was the psychological and emotional scars.  Since the events in Japan many doctors have seen more children for high rates of anxiety disorders, suicidal thoughts, depression, and PTSD.  Many young children fear the causes of nuclear exposure and watching loved one die because of it.  I cannot imagine a young child thinking the only way to survive is potential death. 

My nieces and nephew are older now 11 all the way to their first year in college but the magnitude of that day and the events their after have not changed their quiet whispers among each other to letting the world know how they really are changed forever.

Nutrition and Malnutrition

There are many reasons nutrition and malnutrition are large areas of concern for young children in early childhood.  Abraham Maslow once stated that a child must have his or her basic needs in order to be able to function and be successful in education.  Nutrition is one of those basic needs.  Children must have good nutrition and a balance meal to have healthy cognitive development.  A study has been shown that children who are healthy score higher on aptitude test and have better muscle control noth fine and gross motor.  However there can be amy negative effects of malnutrition in young children. 

According to mother/childnutrition.org malnutrition can stunt children's growth, cause death, and have irreplacable damage on young children age 2 and younger.  Listed below are  facts about hunger and malnutrtion in women and young children.

 

In 2008, the number of undernourished people in the world rose to 963 million (more than the combined populations of the United States, Canada and the European Union), up 40 million from 2007.

Hunger does not affect just the individual. Economists estimate that every child whose physical and mental development is stunted by hunger and malnutrition stands to lose 5 percent to 10 percent in lifetime earnings.

The total food surplus of the United States alone could satisfy every empty stomach in Africa; France's leftovers could feed the hungry in Democratic Republic of Congo and Italy's could feed Ethiopia's undernourished.

Today 25,000 people will die from hunger. A child dies every six seconds of malnutrition or starvation.

There is enough food in the world today for everyone to have the nourishment necessary for a healthy and productive life.

The global rise in food prices has pushed an estimated 40 million more people into hunger this year, UN food agency says. There are now 963 million hungry people, accounting for almost 15% of the world population. The financial crisis, could tip even more people into poverty and hunger, it warns.

By 2009-end, the ranks of the hungry is expected to swell to 1 billion people. Number of hungry rose by 110 million in past 6 years.

Chronic hunger is calculated by prevalence of child malnutrition in population, rates of child mortality and proportion of people who are calorie deficient.

There are an estimated 350 to 400 million children under 18 suffering from hunger in the world today.

WHO/UNICEF estimates 149 million children under five are underweight — a key indicator of undernutrition.

Between five and six million under-fives die each year from diseases which they could have survived if they were not undernourished.

73 percent of the world’s underweight under-fives live in just ten countries.

Today in India malnutrition ranks 66 out of 68 countries, with over 200 million people starving. 
Malnutrition places a heavy burden on India. It is linked to half of all child deaths and nearly a quarter of cases of disease. Malnourished children tend not to reach their potential, physically or mentally, and they do worse at school than they otherwise would.

There are many reasons. Most fundamentally, poor parents find it hard to buy enough food; but that is by no means the only factor. Impoverished and rural families are also less likely to go to a doctor when their children fall sick, which they do a lot, thanks to dirty water and poor hygiene. Inadequate nutrition lowers the immune system, increasing the risk of infectious disease; illness, in turn, depletes a child’s nutritional stocks.

I believe that nutrition and malnutrition is a serious topic in early child development it effects all domains and can help or hinder a child.This topic is splly important to me because I am in preschool and deal with a variety of backgrounds of children.  I have seen those who don't eat unless they are at school and those who receive a well-balanced meal both at home and school.  I never want to see a child go hungry or not able to function because they did not have enough to eat.  It is my job as an early childhood educator to educate parents on the benefits of nutrition and be the voice of the voiceless my young students. 

Child Birth

My childbirthing experience was very typical of most women.  I did not know I was pregnant with my second child until 8 1/2 weeks and once the nurse said that I had morning sickness the next 7 months.  Besides the sickness everything else that goes with pregnacy such as swollen feet and gaining weight was normal.  I did not rest as much as I would of liked with a 3 year-old running around but I felt very healthy otherwise.  The day I gave birth my water broke outside while I was setting up his pool, my husband rushed home from work and sped all they way to the hospital because he didn't want me to have the baby in the car.  Needless to say it took 5 hours and 13 minutes to push my son into the world and he was 8 ilds and 13 oz. and 21 inches long.  Everyone remarked how big his hands and feet were but he is 12 now and grown into himself quite well.  I did not have an epidural during labor but a simple spinal tap which only lasted 3 hours.  I recommend getting the epidural if you can because pushing through the pain of labor was very hard and very frustrating. 

As for births in other countries I read about women in South America.  In south America only women can attend the delivery and usually it is the mother or a midwife, because of cultural traditions.   Men are not allowed to attend the delivery nor see the wife and child until after they have both been cleaned up and dressed.  Latin women after giving birth practice a custom of postpartum lying in which they have a period design to give them rest between childbirth and returning back to work.  Most women in these cultures do not return to office jobs after giving birth but go back to the fields and work.  The postpartum lying period gives women a chance to reccoperate and gather their strength back to care for the family and work again.