A demographic study of patients with behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorders among children in East India

Background: The prevalence of behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorders of children in India is changing according to recent data, as more young children with these problems are now being identified. Aim: Our study aims to assess the emerging patterns of these disorders in patients attending an urban child guidance clinic in Kolkata. Method: A retrospective analysis of the demographic data of patients attending the clinic over the period of 1 year (April 2018–March 2019) was performed. Results: A significant 55.6% of the total 651 patients in our study were children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Children <5 years of age constituted a significant percentage (55.3%) of patients attending the clinic and boys were in significantly larger numbers (74.8%) compared to girls (25.2%). About 52.3% of the children came from Kolkata, 35.4% from other districts of West Bengal, 5.4% from other East Indian states, and 6.9% from the neighboring country Bangladesh. Conclusion: ASD, a developmental disability of public health importance affecting both child and family, has been identified in a significantly large number of children in our study. This may be attributed to increased community awareness resulting in earlier identification/referral of cases; although an actual rise in incidence is also a possibility. The male bias noted in the study is ascribed to a significantly larger number of boys with ASD, behavioral issues, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities, and intellectual impairment.

Urban Child Labor in Bangladesh: Determinants and Its Possible Impacts on Health and Education

(1) Background: A significant proportion of child laborers are compelled to work in exploitative environments, and experience both deteriorating health and financial loss. The present study sought to determine the factors affecting child labor and the characteristics of their working environment. (2) Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted with 80 child laborers aged 5 to 17 years. Alongside descriptive statistics, a newly devised technique known as the Influencing Causes Index (ICI) was administered and tested. (3) Results: The demographic findings reveal that most child laborers are young children (12–14 years) and 32.5% of child laborers have never attended school. The thorough assessment of determinants reflects that not only poverty but schooling expenses and a lack of access to opportunities in primary schools are also the top-ranked push factors to trigger children towards labor. Around 72.5% of children work for over 8 h a day. A significant proportion of participants received no leave, training, or access to hygiene facilities. The existing pattern of employment and working conditions resulted in musculoskeletal pain and dermatological infections among child laborers (p < 0.05). (4) Conclusions: This research suggests that income measures for households and an education program for both children and parents would expedite the abolition of child labor.

Urban Child Labour in Bangladesh: Determinants and It’s Possible Impacts on Health and Education

1) Background: A significant proportion of child laborers are compelled to work in exploitative environments, experience both deteriorating health and financial loss. The present study sought to determine the factors affecting child labour and the characteristics of their working environment. 2) Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted with 80 child labourers aged 5 to 17 years. Alongside descriptive statistics, a newly devised technique known as Influencing Causes Index (ICI) was administered and tested. 3) Results: The startling demographic findings reveal that peak share of child labourers are young children (12-14 years) and 32.5% child laborers had never attended school. The thorough assessment of determinants reflects that not only poverty, but schooling expenses and lack of access opportunity to primary schools are also the top-ranked push factors to trigger children towards labour. Around 72.5% of children work for over 8 hours a day. A significant proportion of participants received no leave, training, or access to hygiene facilities. The existing pattern of employment and working conditions resulted in musculoskeletal pain and dermatological infections among child labourers (p&amp;lt;0.05). 4) Conclusion: This research suggests that income measures for households, and an education programme for both children and parents would expedite the abolition of child labour.

Using an urban child health index to detect intra-urban disparities in Sweden

Aims: Children’s health is affected by the environment in which they live and grow. Within Sweden’s urban areas, several city districts can be classified as socio-economically disadvantaged. This article describes the creation of a child health index to visualise disparities within and between Sweden’s three major cities, and how these relate to indicators of demography and socio-economic status. Methods: Data were collected for seven child health indicators and seven socio-economic and demographic indicators from the Swedish Pregnancy Register, Child Health Services and Statistics Sweden. An index was created from the health indicators using principal component analysis, generating weights for each indicator. Correlations between index outcomes and socio-economic and demographic indicators were analysed using linear regression. Results: The largest variance in index values could be seen in Stockholm followed by Malmö, and the poorest mean index outcome was seen in Malmö followed by Gothenburg. The largest intra-urban percentage range in health indicators could be seen for tobacco exposure at 0–4 weeks (0.8–33.9%, standard deviation ( SD)=8.8%) and, for the socio-economic and demographic indicators, foreign background (19.9–88.5%, SD=19.8%). In the multivariate analysis, index outcomes correlated most strongly with foreign background ( R2=0.364, p=0.001). Conclusions: Children’s health follows a social gradient and a pattern of ethnic segregation in Swedish cities, where it can be visualised using an index of child health. The resulting map highlights the geographical distribution of these disparities, and displays in which city districts child health interventions may be most needed.

Urban Children’s Well-Being Factors and Qualities of Being and Doing in Natural Space: Nature Immersion

Research has suggested positive effects of nature immersion–a state of being or an act of doing in natural space–for urban children who were otherwise at risk for emotional or behavioral problems. However, few studies have systematically investigated natural space qualities that predict child well-being at the clinical level. The purpose of this study was to increase the understanding of natural space qualities as factors of urban child well-being. Explanatory mixed methods were used. Quantitative data ( N = 174) included a survey and two parental reports of child well-being. Interviews provided qualitative data ( N = 15). Data were analyzed using generalized linear model and content analysis. Both data streams were merged into a point of meta-inference that contributed to parental assessment of enhanced child well-being: More frequent nature–child space-time immersion combined with parental valuing of nature connection ( p < .001) as a soothing and safe resource. The factors of urban nature immersion affected child well-being over parental socioeconomic affluence alone. The evidence corresponds to Nightingale’s tenet that an act of doing, which is considered an action of the child’s own will, affects one’s sense of well-being. The findings indicate that nature immersion can be applied to urban child self-care and holistic nursing modalities.

Rural-urban differentials in the determinants of under-five mortality in Bhutan

PurposeThe differences in the distribution of factors associated with under-five mortality (UFM) can help explain the rural-urban inequities in UFM. The determinants contributing to UFM in rural and urban areas have not been previously explored in Bhutan. This study examined the factors associated with UFM in rural and urban Bhutan and the role of the factors in explaining UFM disparity.Design/methodology/approachThe dataset of 6,398 single births (4,999 in rural and 1,399 in urban areas) from the 2012 Bhutan National Health Survey was analyzed. Logistic regression analysis accounting for the complex survey design was performed to investigate the determinants.FindingsThe UFM rate was 2.75 times higher in rural than in urban Bhutan. In rural communities, children of younger mothers, born in households without safe sanitation and electricity, and central and eastern regions had increased UFM odds. Whereas, children born to working mothers and educated fathers, and born in households with non-working household heads had lower UFM odds in urban areas. A higher number of births and smaller household size was associated with an increased UFM odds irrespective of rural-urban residence. Environmental factors were attributable for the largest portion of rural UFM disadvantage.Originality/valueThis study helps to understand the rural-urban differences in the factors influencing UFM in Bhutan. The findings suggest that policies aimed to improve environmental and socioeconomic conditions, women empowerment, and those aimed to enhance health utilization can help reduce the rural-urban child survival disparity and accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal target.

Honoring the Cheese Puffs

Chapter 4 considers how concerns about children’s food are part and parcel of people’s participation in and recognition of their urban, gentrifying community: a means of creating their urban, middle-class civic identities. As a general rule, parents held inclusivity and diversity (understood primarily but not only in terms of class and race) as explicitly valuable and beneficial to their school community. At the same time, after-school childcare programs and other school events could become cause for consternation to food-aware parents: bags of snack chips, cupcakes with bright blue frosting, or Rice Krispie treats sometimes circulated through classroom birthday parties, illicit lunchroom trades, and impromptu cooking classes. Food comparisons across families and observed differences between school and home were often fraught by concern for children’s physical well-being, but these concerns and their expression were also constrained by the preference for nonjudgmental, politically circumspect, and socially aware attitudes. These sensibilities themselves index socioeconomic status and reflect class cultures, but explicit talk of status or prestige was submerged in this urban child-rearing vision, where the language of whole foods and wholesomeness coexisted carefully with that of progressivism and social inclusivity.