A quarter of kids under the age of 5 were stunted worldwide in 2. Saharan Africa and South Asia. In East Asia and Latin America stunting has decreased by a whopping 7. Even very poor countries, like Ethiopia and Nepal, have quickly made progress against malnutrition and stunting. Title details and video sharing options. Stunted kids are more likely to get sick, and they tend to have a harder time in school, which can translate to lower paying jobs later in life. Their graves dot the landscape. One of every three girls in Niger marries before age 1. This was the mother's fifth child and a quick birth. I proudly held up the newborn boy to show him to his mother. She turned her head away and cried. I don't remember the names of the mother or baby, who would be about 4. How his life has gone is only conjecture, but the likelihood is that his path has not been an easy one. We generally assume that all adults are cut out to be parents, but that is not true. Forced parenthood can have unhappy consequences for the adults, and especially for the children. This column examines the outcomes of children of unwilling parents. Next month's column will include the words written by a person who, herself, was born unwanted. The biggest and best analysis of children born unwanted was done in Czechoslovakia at a time when women had limited access to legal abortion. An American psychologist, Dr. Henry David, collaborated with Czech counterparts. Czech women had two chances to request an abortion in the 1. The first chance was at a local clinic. If the woman were turned down, she could apply again at a regional level, the last resort for a legal abortion. Unfortunately, the many advantages of adoption were not considered in this study. One of the Czech psychologists had a list of women who had been twice denied for the same pregnancy. Because of the excellent record keeping of that country, the children born to these women with unwanted pregnancies could be followed for many years. They were carefully matched to children who were desired- same age, same socioeconomic class, same school etc. All the families lived in Prague, the country's capital. These people, both those who were unwanted before birth and the . The investigators also looked at records, interviewed parents and spoke with teachers. The two groups of people ended up significantly different despite growing up in very similar circumstances. Higher Education Controversies Bob Jensen at Trinity University. Please do what you can to lend financial support to Wikipedia --- Keep Knowledge Open Sourced.Compared to the people who resulted from pregnancies that were planned (or at least accepted), those born unwanted did not fare so well in life. Specifically, the babies who had been unwanted were not breastfed as long, and did not achieve as well in school even though their intelligence tests were as good as the more desired children. They were more likely to be less social and more disruptive and hyperactive, and were more likely to have criminal records. When asked as adolescents, the children who had been unwanted believed their mothers showed less maternal interest than did the control group. The young adults in their 2. Again there was a significant difference, with the people who were unplanned being less satisfied with their lives, with their love relationships, with their own mental health and with their jobs. It is interesting that their sexual debut was at an earlier age and they had more sexual partners than control people. Thus, these people were more likely to beget another generation of unwanted pregnancies. There are exceptions to the general rule, fortunately. David's research found three groups of women who requested abortions but were denied. Some had temporary motivation for wanting to abort, such as financial reasons. These women usually accepted the pregnancy and both mother and child did well. For other women the pregnancy resulted from a poor relationship, and they did not do so well with childrearing. The third group of women apparently realized from the beginning that they would not be good parents, and the study, unfortunately, bore this out. Both the women and their children did not fare well. The Czech study was of women who were denied legal abortion. Those who were allowed to have abortion must have had even more compelling reasons to not parent.
If they had been forced to bear their unwanted kids, presumably these children would have had even more severe problems. What does this mean? A person resulting from an unplanned, unwanted pregnancy starts off life with a handicap, like the baby I delivered in medical school. This can have consequences for society, too. There is a controversial theory, popularized in Freakonomics, that the downturn in serious crime in the USA noted in the early 1. An unwanted pregnancy can be devastating. Sometimes things work out well, but delivering and raising an unwanted baby may be traumatic for the parent(s), and scar the child. There are, in the world, 1. UN millennium development goals targets by 2. Adolescents are often marginalized in development budgets and programs, which, if not corrected, investment in global poverty, health, education and employment goals will be compromised. As babies or young children when the MDGs were established in 2. Infant mortality has dropped 3. But this investment and support will taper off because development programs are not sufficiently making the link between an investment in early childhood and the need to consolidate these gains into early adulthood. While millions of children have been vaccinated against dangerous diseases, a third of all new HIV cases worldwide involve 1. In Brazil, 2. 6,0. Adolescence is the time when young people are at the highest risk of dangers such as child marriage, forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation. But child protection resources and assistance will not reach them. Adolescence is the pivotal decade where poverty and inequality pass on to the next generation, and this is especially true when poor adolescent girls who become mothers. Almost half the world's adolescents do not attend secondary school. Girls are still far less likely to attend secondary education than boys. Educated adolescent girls are less likely to marry early or get pregnant, and have a better knowledge of HIV/Aids and health issues. Adolescence is also a time when other cultural forms of gender discrimination come into play, and is the best time to confront and challenge institutionalised attitudes and behaviours. In some countries younger girls are more likely to excuse violence as older women. In a world that is gripped by social and political insecurity, spiralling food prices and rising unemployment, a stronger focus on adolescents is crucial. This will have a significant impact on future economic recovery and growth. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), more than 2. While the Mid East is a . With two- thirds of the region's population now below 2. Youth unemployment and a lack of political voice are not included in prominent measures of development. The global fight against poverty, inequality and discrimination will be compromised if this doesn't change. African nations. This same age group comprises 2. India's population. Almost 4. 0% of the section is out of school and 4. Fortunately the number of girls getting married before the age of 1. But the figure is the eight highest in the world and Pakistan fares much better with just 2. Correct knowledge of HIV/AIDS is held by 3. One- third of adolescents report physical abuse and and the same number report sexual abuse. A representative said . A majority come from a group of 3. Albanian- speaking Gypsies who have fared poorly. More than 1,0. 00 children are in Greece, working as beggars. One or two are arrested every day and sent home. This is part of a trade including East European women for prostitution, and an outgrowth of the organized crime in this clannish society. In Albania most cases of child trafficking have involved older children who are sold or rented to minders (pimps), who take them to Greece and Italy, where they work as beggars or child prostitutes. Many families believe that their children will gain better lives abroad and to send a child abroad is a success and not exploitation. The Albanian government has introduced campaigns to alert families to the dangers of such decisions. Laws penalizing child trafficking have been enacted, and policing stepped up. The level decreased from 3. The best figure was in Czech Republic - 4 per 1,0. Turkmenistan 2. 0. Rates in Caucasus and Central Asia are five times higher than those in Central and Eastern Europe and 1. The most common reasons were poverty, poor health, insufficient feeding of pregnant women, infectious diseases and low- quality medical services. Uzbekistan has achieved full vaccination of children against hepatitis B and improved treatment of respiratory infections and diarrhoea. Mortality rates in Uzbekistan could be higher than the data because the country uses Soviet methods of definition of infant mortality. The Uzbek government has agreed to introduce the WHO system. Women in poor countries tend to believe that the more children they have, the greater their chances that the number they actually want will survive. It is a tragic commentary on the health risks to infants and children in developing regions, among them: births too closely spaced, air and water pollution, lack of nutritious food and a shortage of medical supplies and personnel. If passed, the State Department would be required to come up with a multi- year strategy to prevent child marriage and promote the empowerment of young girls who are at risk of child marriage. Child marriage is a recognized violation of human rights, an average of 2. Child marriage is a concern in 6. It is most common in sub- Saharan Africa and South Asia. These girls are often prevented from continuing their education and frequently become pregnant before they are physically capable of having a safe pregnancy. Child brides also face a significantly greater risk of domestic violence and HIV infection.
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