child care level 3 unit 6 E4

Provide information about a range of factors which may affect children’s health and well-being at differing times in their lives

Include evidence of the effects of these factors on children’s health

There are many factors that affect children’s health these can be social, psychological and physical factors.

Neglect is when a parent or carer of a child does not care or provide for a child adequately. When looking after children physical, emotional and educational well-being must be paramount. Neglect also occurs when the parent or carer does not seek the correct medical attention that the child needs this could seriously affect the child’s health and when children are not provided with sufficient food, shelter or clothing. Emotional needs of children need to be met ‘neglect can occur when parents abandon the child, or simply have no time to spend with the child, in essence leaving the child to raise himself’ (http://www.minddisorders.com/Kau-Nu/Neglect.html) see appendix ….

Neglect can affect the child’s development. An example of how neglect can affect a child’s health is poor nutrition, if the correct nutrients are not are not available to children the child’s growth development will not follow the normal pattern and developmental stages will be delayed. ‘Common physical and psychological reactions to neglect include stunted growth, chronic medical problems, inadequate bone and muscle growth, and lack of neurological development that negatively affects normal brain functioning and information processing.’ (http://www.minddisorders.com/Kau-Nu/Neglect.html#ixzz2HxRH2n98) see appendix …. This negativity affecting the brain can make processing problems difficult for the child understand social relationships or harder for the child to complete academic tasks without assistance or intervention from others. Lack of medical care and attention may result in long-term or life threatening illnesses or disabilities.

Children face a greater risk than adults of the negative effects of secondhand smoke, Women who smoke during pregnancy usually have babies with a low birth weight compared to non-smoking mothers. Low birth weight can cause many illnesses for the child and can lead to infant death. Mothers who smoke whilst pregnant are also putting their baby at high risk of developmental and learning problems. After the baby is they are still at risk of second hand smoke if other people smoke around them they are twice as much at risk for SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) as babies that are not exposed to passive smoke. ‘The lungs of children who regularly breathe in secondhand smoke develop more slowly.’ http://quitsmoking.about.com/od/secondhandsmoke/a/smokeandkids.htm see appendix ….Due to this 15,400 children between the ages of 3 and 16 develop asthma, children with asthma have their condition worsened by secondhand smoke. Research has shown that secondhand smoke may be related to childhood leukemia, lymphoma and brain tumors. There are many more conditions caused by passive smoking that children contract ‘In total 165,000 children get such conditions 9,500 need hospital treatment.’ http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/mar/24/smoking-asthma-children-health see appendix ….