Does growing up poor stunt brain growth in children? What experts say

<p>Across the world, more than 356 million children live in extreme poverty as per UNICEF estimates. The Covid-19 pandemic further pushed&nbsp;150 million additional children into multidimensional poverty.</p> <p><strong>SEE MORE&nbsp;<a href=https://www.editorji.com/story/1-in-6-kids-across-the-globe-living-in-extreme-poverty-report-1603273085944>1 in 6 kids across the globe living in extreme poverty: report&nbsp;</a></strong></p> <p>The risks to these children&rsquo;s&nbsp;lives&nbsp;are grave&nbsp;and scientists are&nbsp;also&nbsp;studying how a life of poverty impacts the&nbsp;brain health of these kids.&nbsp;A 17-year study&nbsp;following&nbsp;216&nbsp;pre-schoolers&nbsp;through early adulthood&nbsp;discovered that&nbsp;poverty&nbsp;may be causing cognitive and behavioural difficulties in children.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>Published&nbsp;in the journal&nbsp;<a href=https://www.biologicalpsychiatrycnni.org/article/S2451-9022(21)00196-8/fulltext>Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging</a>, the study found that&nbsp;poverty and its by-products such as stress, inadequate nutrition, less access to health care impact brain development&nbsp;</p> <p>Even after adjusting for factors&nbsp;like&nbsp;base psychopathology and any significant life events, the team was able to&nbsp;link poverty with&nbsp;reduced&nbsp;cognitive function, high-risk behaviours, social and educational function&nbsp;nearly 13 years after the children joined the study.&nbsp;</p> <p>A separate ongoing study&nbsp;in the journal&nbsp;<a href=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306453021002146?via%3Dihub>Psychoneuroendocrinology</a>&nbsp;also&nbsp;finds that teens who grew up in poverty&nbsp;experience physical signs of stress at higher levels than their peers from more economically secure families.&nbsp;</p> <p>However, experts say that there are many children with great outcomes despite growing up in poverty. This is generally due to additional support and resources, a theory that is set to be the next subject of research for the Washington University team.</p> <p><strong>SEE MORE&nbsp;<a href=https://www.editorji.com/story/how-to-keep-young-children-healthy-amid-covid-19-outbreak-1619521194008>How to keep young children healthy amid Covid-19 outbreak&nbsp;</a></strong></p>