Journal Article Critique
Introduction
The article Child health and human development over the lifespan was published on March 19, 2013 in the Front Public Health Journal of Psychology. It covers the topic of huan development over a lifespan and child health which is a wide area of study; the stages discusses are child delivery, childhood,adolescence, adulthood and the end of life. The author states that a child goes through a wide range of issues before birth that affect their health; the general childhood illness is one of them. Eating habits determine their obesity and healh levels, the development of human beings including children spans over lifetime which is a collection of various stages.
Child health has always been an important problem in the society that deserved attention. Child healh pedeatrics emerged in the 19thcentury due to the awareness and increase in child health problems. The child health problems were not exactl y the same as the problems of adults including illness, medications and diagnosis. In a particular age group, the illness of children lead to many child healthcare hospitals for caring of ill children. Child health research expanded due to same factors to research on lifelong health issues. The article explores the currentissues in child health through lifespan and provide their solutions.
Child Growth and Development Current Issues
The researchers have found out that in United States, the following concerns of child issues are most prevailing in the society. The issue are represented in percentages to get an exact idea of how severe they are on a scale of 100. In United States, children have been found to have numerous physical health and mental healthproblems including asthama, alcohol useage, drug usage, physical violence and neglect, suicide, internet safety isues, school violence, depression, anxiety, euphoria, dementia, sexting and not enough opportunities for taking part in healthy activities.the children have their own perceptionof health which does not related much to the perception of their parents. A sample of 130 children in Portugal also discovered that children value a healthy food and like to take part in physical and mental activities to boost their confidence. There is a link detected between their diet and physical exercise.
Moreoveer, social inequality also affect the well being of children in contemporary society over their lifespan. The condition of povery cuts the life short in children and adults as discovered in the 20th century. The mass povery is existing in many areas of America. Decades of studies has enabled researchers to find out a relationship between the helaht and social condition of children. The social process is important to understand the underlying differences that meditate these processes. From birth to death, the researchers have found link between health and social status.
The relevant periods in a child’s life are childhood, adolescence, midlife and old age. Their social experience also contributes towards the growth of disease; the social status is directly related to factors like income of parents, educational opportuntieis, race, gender, ethnicity and occupational status. Schooling is important for children’s growth. From LSD Life Span Development perspective, child development and aging is a lifelong process and their social status affect health.
Method
The University of Michigan at Children’s Hospital conducted a national poll to determine the state of Children’s health for monitoring their future. The Knowledge Networks also collaborated with the university in the national household survey which selected the random group of adults with or without children.
Results
Childhood obesity is found to be 38% in U.S children, drug abuse 30%, smoking 29%, internet safety 25%, stress 24%, bullying 23%, teen pregnancy 23%, child neglect and abuse 21%, alcohol usage by children of underage 20%, low opportunity for physical and health activities 20%, sexting 16%, depression 15%, school violence 13% and asthama 10%.
Conclusion
It is a fact that children have numerous mental and physical helath challenges in the contemporary society. The United States has a diverse set of population where children face issues like disease, drug use, suicide, alcohol use, teenage pregnancy and depression on daily basis. A few children survive in the early years when diagnosed with genetic abnormalities and heart disease. They suffer from major problems in their metabolism and suffer from cancer and many other types of dangerous diseases which take their life. The primary care professionals do not have the opportunity to detect these problems in children therefore unable to provide appropriate care for children.
The technology and medicine has been advancing rapidly over the years, ithas helped to increase the lfie expectancy of manychildren in the country. With the lifespan approach, a new medical healthcare challenge has arise. The most important topic for the researches is the intellectual disability inchildren, human development and child health over the life span. Moreover the research also indicates that the social status of a child is important aspect of their physical and mental well being.there are many lifespan theoretical principles to determine the social status whichhelp to refine the hypothesis about the relationship of health and social status of children.
At any point of birth, the social status of a child can affect the child’s health; many healthcare professionals have found out that social status of a child before birth and during the lifespan development is a constant feature for improving their health.
References
Merrick, J. (2013). Child health and human development over the lifespan. Retrieved 18 April 2018, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3854993/
