by Leanna Pankratz

What are some of your favorite memories of childhood? Maybe they involved energetic games of hide and seek outside with friends. Or maybe they involved an extracurricular activity such as swimming or dance classes. Activities such as the ones mentioned can be particularly hard for a child who is struggling in terms of their physical health and well-being, particularly if the child is suffering from a lack of adequate nutrition.

An EDI Health report defines physical health and well-being as a “child[‘s] gross and fine motor skills, physical independence, and readiness for the school day” (H.E.L.P, 2019). These abilities are foundational parts of a child’s path to successful development, and there are several factors that can play a determining role in whether or not a child is set up for future success.

Community Data from Vancouver’s West End

For this project, I wanted to assess risk and resilience in the neighbourhood I personally live in – Vancouver’s West End. I wondered if there was a large percentage of children in my neighbourhood who were struggling with physical health and well-being. The results were encouraging, showing that vulnerability levels in the West End lay at 9% of children under six, compared to 12% in Vancouver’s downtown core. The results appear to be stable, and considering the size of the West End’s population of children (higher than that of downtown Vancouver) the outlook looks promising. Of course, any vulnerability in the West End (and the wider Vancouver community) is something that needs to be addressed. Let’s take a look at some of those factors that could play into why a child might be (or might be at risk of becoming) vulnerable.

What contributes to vulnerability? What contributes to resilience?

There are some circumstances that act as predictors for children experiencing vulnerability in terms of their physical health and well-being. On the more extreme side, issues such as prenatal alcohol use can contribute to adverse experiences in children, including Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), which can cause a child to struggle academically, socially, and have difficulties engaging in outdoor activities and play that are necessary for a healthy childhood (Berk, 2021). Broad spectrum issues such as socioeconomic status often have implications such as a chaotic home atmosphere that causes stress to a child and impacts development (Klemfuss et al., 2018), and lack of access to health and nutritional information, as well as healthy food, leading to potential malnourishment (Berk, 2021).

Alternatively, there are many features present in childhood that allows for amazing resilience against these risks! Children have incredible neuroplasticity, meaning that their developing brains are regenerative and capable of forming new connections even when an adverse event, such as prenatal alcohol or drug use has occurred (Berk, 2021).

Programs such as one called the Alert Program specifically target children who have experienced the negative impacts of FAS, and work to help these children develop the parts of their brain that may be affected (Berk, 2021). The program has shown incredible results, with children overcoming struggles with learning and social interaction that may have limited their ability to lead a physically healthy life (Berk, 2021).

Lastly, the importance of a safe place for children to engage in physical activity within their community can’t be understated. Children from neighbourhoods not generally afforded these opportunities who engage in physical activities through funded community programming have shown great results in terms of their physical and mental development (Roubinov et al., 2018). Maybe this would be a publically funded community sports team, or organized play time at a community centre.

Additionally, programs that provide subsidized food for parents with small children and expectant mothers go a LONG way in terms of mitigating the risk posed to childhood physical health by malnutrition (Berk, 2021). As nutrition is the foundation of a healthy childhood, it is vital that a child has access to enough food, and healthy food. It is also vital that parents of vulnerable children are provided the education necessary to ensure they are making good choices for their family.

What does vulnerability look like?

As mentioned above, nutrition is such an important factor in determining how a child might fare in terms of their physical health and well-being. Malnutrition can be devastating to a developing child (Berk, 2021), and sadly a lot of parents find it difficult to consistently provide healthy food for their families due to financial struggles, and socioeconomic issues.

A child who struggles with a lack of nutrition can struggle with their gross fine motor skills, and physical readiness for the school day (H.E.L.P, 2019). The child may not have a lunch with them to eat on their break, or they might have a lunch filled with unhealthy or inappropriate items. The child might appear thin, gaunt, and extremely fatigued, or appear to be excessively hungry at strange times in the school day (H.E.L.P, 2019). In terms of development, the child might experience difficulties concentrating, or staying focused in class, owing to malnutrition (H.E.L.P, 2019).

No child should have to struggle like this, and no parents should face the stress of not being able to feed their family healthy food (or lacking the knowledge of how to do so). Thus, intervention is necessary in order to reduce risk of children experiencing the impact malnutrition can have on their physical health.

How can we help?

An intervention strategy that could help mitigate some physical health risk factors (particularly in relation to nutrition) is through supportive education for the very people a child looks to for nutritional care and guidance – parents and caregivers.

I had the idea for a program that would seek to promote education and knowledge in parents of vulnerable children through a once-weekly free course in their community (in this case, it would be the chosen community for this project: Vancouver’s West End). The program would be an hour long, and would have a set portion of time for nutritional education, as well as an open question and answer session where parents of vulnerable children can learn and grow in a safe, judgement-free setting. This program would be aimed at parents of toddlers, taking advantage of the aforementioned high levels of neuroplasticity present in early childhood (Berk, 2021). Parents would also be directed to subsidized food programs within the community, if these services are needed.

This program would seek to reduce the impact of malnutrition on vulnerable children, ensuring that in this vital early childhood stage, they are set up for success, with families getting the help they need in meal planning and learning valuable nutritional information that can be passed down to the next generation – in short, breaking the cycle that led to some of these issues in the first place.

This program would just be a start in tacking the issue that is childhood malnutrition, and hopefully reduce the impact a lack of healthy food has on the developing minds and bodies of children impacted by lack of access to healthy food and nutritional knowledge.

References

Berk, Laura E. (2021). Revel for Infants and Children: Prenatal through Middle Childhood (9 th ed.), Pearson

Human Early Learning Partnership. Early Development Instrument [EDI] report. Wave 7 Community Profile, 2019. West Vancouver School District (SD45). Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine, School of Population and Public Health; February 2020. Available from: http://earlylearning.ubc.ca/media/edi_w7_communityprofiles/edi_w7_communityprofile_sd_45.pdf

Klemfuss, J. Z., Wallin, A. R., & Quas, J. A. (2018). Attachment, household chaos, and children’s health. Families, Systems, & Health, 36(3), 303–314. https://doi.org/10.1037/fsh0000303

Roubinov, D. S., Hagan, M. J., Boyce, W. T., Adler, N. E., & Bush, N. R. (2018). Family socioeconomic status, cortisol, and physical health in early childhood: The role of advantageous neighborhood characteristics. Psychosomatic Medicine, 80(5), 492–501. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000000585