Poverty--it affects people all over the world

Poverty is something that has affected my family and other families all over the world. When I was younger I experienced not having all the necessities we needed. We had the bare minimum when it came to having extra money for food, clothing and other at home utilities. I started working at a young age to help my parents with the bills and things got a lot better. My family suffered from not having a lot of things but with prayer we somehow survived.

"Few studies have examined the incidence of behavior problems in toddlers and preschool children from families living in poverty. The available research suggests behavior problems occur at higher rates in children living in poverty and may have long-term negative outcomes if not identified and properly treated. This study included an ethnically representative sample of 357 children, five years of age and younger, from a diverse, low-income, urban area. All families' incomes met the federal threshold for living in poverty. Behavior problems were assessed by parent report through a questionnaire specifically designed for low-income families. Boys and younger children were reported as demonstrating a higher rate of externalizing behaviors than girls and older children. The overall rate of children scoring at least one standard deviation above the sample's mean for challenging behaviors was 17.4% and was not related to the child's gender, age or ethnicity. This study also sampled children's positive behaviors, which is unique in studies of behavior problems. Gender and age were not related to the frequency of reported positive behaviors. Ethnicity did influence scores on the positive scale. African American children appeared to present their parents more difficulty on items reflecting cooperative behaviors than Caucasian or Latino children. The implications of the study are discussed based on the recognized need for universal screening of behavior problems in young children and the small number professional training programs targeting the identification and treatment of early childhood behavior problems, despite the availability of evidence-based treatment programs tailored to young children in low-income families."

Holtz, C. A., Fox, R. A., & Meurer, J. R. (2015). Incidence of behavior problems in toddlers and preschool children from families living in poverty. The Journal Of Psychology, 149(1-2), 161-174. doi:10.1080/00223980.2013.853020

Nutrition and Malnutrition:

Nutrition and Malnutrition:

There are children all over the world that are experiencing malnutrition disorders. During my years as a head start teacher and also a pre-k teacher I've had many students that went through challenging nutritional problems. In the head start program our primary goal is to make sure all the children have  proper nutritional benefits. We educated the families on healthy foods and gave many seminars. As a pre-k teacher I have a student that went through a severe eating disorder due to allergies and was afraid to eat certain foods. Children suffer nutritionally due to life changing experiences like allergies and poverty, its our job as advocates for children to help others no matter the situation. I want to continue to educate parents and children about the importance of nutrition. According to this article mothers in Madagascar have a different perception to proper nutrition in the Anivorano region.

 

"Methods: In a mixed methods study we measured height and weight for 313 children, aged 6 months to 5 years during summer 2011 using a recumbent measuring board and calibrated scale, and simultaneously conducted semi-structured interviews with 60 mothers of malnourished (n=19) and healthy (n=41) children. Multivitamins and high-energy supplemental food were provided to malnourished children. Mothers were trained how to prepare high-energy supplemental food.
Results: Prevalence of wasting defined by low weight-for-height was 10.3% (31/301); stunting or low height-for-age was 36.2% (109/301). The majority of families interviewed cultivated their own rice and other crops. Major themes regarding barriers to proper nutrition included inadequate purchasing power and access issues, low health literacy and misconceptions regarding proper nutrition and malnutrition, and insufficient variety of crops produced.
Conclusions: Malnutrition rates are alarming. Health and nutritional education to improve health literacy and address misconceptions, and improvement in social services, are warranted. A multilateral approach with involvement of health and social service agencies and non-governmental organizations to plan effective preventative strategies, along with broader national and transnational strategies are instrumental to address the fundamental causes of lack of access to proper nutrition."

(Asgary, R., Liu, M., Naderi, R., Grigoryan, Z., & Malachovsky, M. (2015).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asgary, R., Liu, M., Naderi, R., Grigoryan, Z., & Malachovsky, M. (2015). Malnutrition prevalence and nutrition barriers in children under 5 years: a mixed methods study in Madagascar. International Health, 7(6), 426-432. doi:10.1093/inthealth/ihv016

While the United States remains the third most populous country in the world with high birth rates (after China and India), it's projected to drop to fourth (after Nigeria) by 2050. Due to Women education and marriage and other factors things continue to be a factor in the decline of birth rates in the United States. My mother had my little sister when she was 40 I was at the hospital with my mother during the birth of my little sister. Because of my mothers age she was border line diabetic when she was pregnant with my little sister. 5 years later my family soon found out my sister had type one diabetes. The doctor told my mother that depending on a woman's age you can have complications with child birth. This causes many worries for me I am 30 years old and I am single with no kids. I often wonder if I don't hurry up and have kids will I have the same complications.

There are many countries that birth is done differently for instance.

 The Netherlands

Except in high-risk cases, women in the Netherlands turn to midwives, not obstetricians, during their pregnancies. Couples have the option of a hospital birth, but most choose to stay home. In that case, the Kraampakket comes in handy. It sounds like something you might buy at IKEA, but it's actually a home delivery kit sent to every mother-to-be in Holland. (Watch this American expatriate open hers.)

http://mentalfloss.com/article/51511/how-5-other-countries-approach-childbirth