Children are the hopes of every nation's future, and it is vital always to keep their well-being in mind. Adults must ensure that the children are still healthy, happy, and as much as possible away from stress caused by trauma and other adverse experiences.
Dr. Nicole Fisher of Forbes wrote that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) like poverty, neglect, housing instability, food insecurity, housing instability, and parents' separation could affect childhood development and lifelong health. These traumatic events can cause damaging stress on children.
According to the CDC, distress (negative stress), firm ACEs can change brain development and the physiological growth of children as they age.
Although some stress in life is ordinary and necessary for growth, some can cause lifetime effects on a person. Prevention of distress in children and pregnant women through policy changes and actions can reduce harmful outcomes.
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Dr. Fisher Has Outlined Five Ways That Ace's Can Affect Childhood Development:
1. Brain maturation stops at age 25
A human brain has billions of neurons that form trillions of connection since their first stage of life. The CDC noted that the first eight years of children's lives determine their learning, health, and overall life success. Brain maturation only happens by age 25, which means that even after reaching 18 years old or 20s, humans' brains can still be influenced by trauma, neglect, and instability and affects their mental, emotional, and physical health throughout their lives.
2. One in six children in the US lives in poverty
In 2018, statistics showed that 13 million of America's youth have food insecurity, and one in six children live in poverty even before the pandemic strikes. President and CEO of Children's Institute Swati Adarkar said that early-life conditions on children do not set them up for success, resulting in stress contributing to worse outcomes on education, career, and overall health.
3. Effects of stress linked to cardiovascular diseases
According to Dr. Shonkoff, events during childhood have significant effects on both the short-term and long-term outcomes for children's mental, emotional, and physical health. Toxic stress during childhood may lead to inflammation, which is linked to developing cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.
4. Issue of variability
As mentioned earlier, the stress in life can be every day, and some children may grow up in poverty or experience pressure without suffering adverse effects later in life. Parents tend to shield their children from ACEs to ensure their healthy growth. Those who know that they are predisposed to certain diseases can prevent having it by limiting the likelihood of the disease onset or its severity.
Experts suggest that the problem is in the variability. A person is more likely to have poor health later in life if, as a child, they experienced "sustained racism, poverty, violence, housing instability, and food insecurity."
5. Early childhood investments have the highest payoff
Reduced stress or traumatic events during childhood show improved health across the lifespan and can save costs. Moreover, society benefits from the early investment in children by reducing the number and severity of chronic diseases and illnesses like cardiovascular conditions, depression, and diabetes. Dr. Shonkoff has published a paper showing that early childhood investments have the highest payoff.
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