Consequences of Stress on Child Development

The stressor that I wanted to discuss in relation to child development was hunger and poverty.  Fortunately, I had not experienced any of the stressors mentioned on the list for this assignment. However, I know an adult that is near and dear to my hear that has experienced the stress of hunger and being impoverished as a child. From what I have observed, many times adults who have had traumatic childhoods don’t seem to recall many of the details from their childhood experiences. Furthermore, when I asked this adult about how they coped with the stress of hunger and poverty, they were unable to remember specific details like feelings or behaviors that they might have had. But, they could tell me that as a child they engaged in self-soothing techniques such as thumb sucking and ear stimulation. As an adolescent, selling drugs was a means of getting money for things that were wanted or needed and helped to minimize some of the effects of living a life of lack. In addition, sports, in specific, basketball was a means to cope with the stress of everyday life for this person and they were able to "lay it all out" on the court.

Nevertheless, hunger and poverty not only effect the people within the United States, but it has also had devastating effects for the entire continent of Africa. In specific, it has been estimated by the United Nation Food and Agriculture Organization that 239 million people in sub-Saharan Africa were hungry or undernourished in 2010 (Hunger Notes, 2012). In addition, the entire continent had the second largest hunger-stricken population (Hunger Notes, 2012).

The poverty level of sub-Saharan Africa is the main reason for the problem regarding hunger in this area.

In 2008, 47 percent of the population of sub-Saharan Africa lived on $1.25 a day or less. (United Nations, 2012).

Although poverty and hunger have adversely affected the entire population of people, children have been affected the most. In specific, 26% of children in Africa are malnourished compared to an astonishing more than 70% in Asia (Hunger Notes, 2012).  However, globally,  5 million deaths each year have been attributed to poor nutrition (Hunger Notes, 2012). Malnutrition has been said to magnify the effects of diseases such as measles and malaria (Hunger Notes, 2012). In addition, poor nutrition also affects expected mothers in developing countries like Africa where 1 out of every 6 infants are born with a low birth weight (Hunger Notes, 2012). As a result, this issue translates into infants born with a higher risk of blindness, learning disabilities, mental retardation, poor health, and last but least, premature death.

Hunger Notes (2012). Africa Hunger and Poverty Facts. Retrieved from:

http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/africa_hunger_facts.htm

Hunger Notes (2012). World Hunger and Poverty Facts and Statistics. Retrieved from:

http://worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm