Saturday, November 27, 2010

POVERTY

Poverty – well when I was growing up I remember my mother telling me when I was older that we were considered to be poor.  But, I never thought that.  We did not visit the grocery store often.  This is how we coped with the stressor as a family my grandparents raised chickens, pigs and we had a garden of vegetables.  During hunting season my uncles would hunt deer, rabbits, and squirrels.  Even though we were not able to go to the store often we always had what we needed.  As far as clothing there were a lot of cousins so we shared a lot of clothing and shoes.  Going to the store on our bikes to buy candy was a treat.  I remember going into pastures running from cows and picking black berries for my grandmother to make blackberry cobbler for dessert.  We did not have candy or sweets in the house unless it was a special occasion i.e. Birthday, Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving.

India is the country in the world that you would like to know more about and/or for which you have a special affinity.

“Several specific risk factors, and poverty is among the most commonly investigated of socio-demographic risk variables” (Gulati, 2008, p. 108).  “Children experience poverty as an environment that is damaging to their physical, mental, emotional and moral development. Living in poverty has been connected to poor cognitive and behavioral outcomes” (Zill, Moore, Smith, Steif & Coiro 1990; Moore & Stief 1991).

In this study was done on the basis of the following risk factors: “Low maternal age at subject child’s birth, low maternal education, low paternal education, father’s low status occupation, large sibling size, chronic illness in the family, drug abuse in father, alcohol abuse in father (women of this region cannot take alcohol) and inter-parent discord” (Gulati, 2008, p. 110).

According to the article some of these children may experience behavioral problems and others do not.  To minimize the harm of poverty is by “constructing a poverty line along the basic needs approach by using estimated shadow nutrient prices” (Coondoo, 2008, p. 20).  If the poverty line were constructed based on nutrient prices more families would become affordable.  While this would not alleviate poverty it would decrease the amount of families suffering from this stressor.

References

Coondoo, D., Majumder, A., Lancaster, G., Ray, R. (2008). Alternative approaches to measuring temporal changes in poverty with application to India. Contemporary Issues & Ideas in Social Sciences. Retrieved November 27, 2010 from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=111&sid=2da09a2a-83cb-4154-9f7a-6e8ec5af36de%40sessionmgr104

Gulati, Jatinder K., Dutta, Jayanti (2008). Risk, conflict between parents and child adjustment in families experiencing persistent poverty in India. Journal of Family Studies. Retrieved November 27, 2010 from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&hid=111&sid=2da09a2a-83cb-4154-9f7a-6e8ec5af36de%40sessionmgr104

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Child Development and Public Health

Breastfeeding
In the Berger text it states that “beast fed babies are less likely to become sick, because breast milk provides them with antibodies against any disease to which the mother is immune. It also decreases the risk of many diseases that appear in childhood and adulthood, among them asthma, obesity, and heart disease (Oddy, 2004)” (Berger, 2009, p. 154). “Some researchers say that bottle feeding may be best in cases where the mother may be an HIV-positive or uses toxic or addictive drugs. Even with HIV-positive mother’s some still say that breast milk is best” (Berger, 2009, p. 155).

An article from the Times of India it stated “"Proper breastfeeding right from the birth of a baby up to six months can provide appropriate amounts of protein, sugar, fats and water along with important protective substances like IgA (immunoglobulin A ) and protective cells. Both are essential for a strong defence mechanism. Breastfeeding minimises the chances of development of allergy so common these days resulting in recurrent cold and even asthma," (Isalkar, 2010).

In researching breastfeeding there appears to be an agreement that it is better for young children to build up immunes systems against disease.  In further research even if mothers have a disease it is also stated that breastfeeding is still better for the young child.

My conclusion is that the formula that is man-made will never produce exactly what the human body is made to do.

References

Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers

Isalkar, U. (2010). Breastfeeding, proper nutrition can keep condition at bay [Pune]. The Times of India. Retrieved November 14, 2010 from http://proquest.umi.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/pqdweb?index=9&did=2187078791&SrchMode=2&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1289765313&clientId=70192

Thursday, November 4, 2010

PERSONAL BIRTHING EXPERIENCE & RAJASTHAN, INDIA

PERSONAL BIRTHING EXPERIENCE:
I remember being in the delivery with my cousin who was young and giving birth to her first child.  I remember the painful experience from the physical squeezing of my hand and her hitting on the bed during delivery.  But once her daughter was born she was so excited and immediately began to discuss things that she wanted for her daughter.  Exhausted from the birth she went to sleep but wanted to feel her baby near her before going to sleep. 

I chose this example because I was able to physically witness the miracle of birth with my own eyes.

When speaking of birth and its impact on child development I must go back to the Berger text there are many risk factors “underweight, under eating, underage, and drug use” (Berger, 2009, p.122).  My cousin was a young expectant mother.  I was a miracle that she had a healthy baby girl, but the risk factor of being very young left the possibility that their may be some abnormalities in the young child.


RAJASTHAN, INDIA:
“Most assessments of family and community practices related to neonatal health have focused on events well after birth, such as the use of pre-lacteal feeds, exclusivity of breast-feeding, bathing and clothing, and care seeking for illness.3 Studies of newborn care practices at the time of delivery have largely focused on the tying and cutting of the umbilical cord because of concerns about neonatal tetanus, but have not described the monitoring of progress of labor and immediate newborn care, including resuscitation, drying, wrapping and initiation of breast-feeding” (SD Iyengar, 2008).

Some of the differences and similarities with your experience in India no prenatal care was given and even after from the study above there did not appear to be an urgency to provide a sanitary environment no immediate care and nurture for the mother or child after giving birth.

What additional insights, if any, about the impact of the birthing experience on development, did you gain from this comparison?  There are cultural differences or is this just the evidence that poverty is global as it relates to childhood development.  Is this the result of poverty or a cultural practice in this area of India.  It was also noted that “India suffers the largest share of the world’s burden of maternal and neonatal deaths” (SD Iyengar, 2008).

References:

Berger, K. S. (2009). The developing person through childhood (5th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers

SD Iyengar, K Iyengar, JC Martines, K Dashora1 and KK Deora. (2008). Childbirth practices in rural Rajasthan, India: implications for neonatal health and survival formative research on childbirth practices. Journal of Perinatology, 28, S23–S30. Retrieved November 4, 2010 from http://cv8yh9th3f.search.serialssolutions.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/?SS_LibHash=CV8YH9TH3F&genre=article&sid=sersol%3AuniqueIDQuery&id=10.1038%2Fjp.2008.174

HELLO TO ALL!

It feels really great to be in my second course here at Walden University.  It is also great to see some of my classmates from the previous course.  Let's begin the journey through the next eight weeks.