IndexDefinition of Child DevelopmentConclusionWorks Cited Poverty has been shown to have detrimental effects on overall child health and development across a broad spectrum and along various dimensions. Poverty has often been associated with negatively affecting some of the early stages of brain development and the social and emotional development of children. It is often attributed to children's deprivations, such as the risk of health problems (obesity, asthma, etc.), low developmental scores, an increased mortality rate, a higher risk of injury and abuse. It creates stress on families and ultimately children which interferes with their success. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay What is poverty? Poverty has various definitions. It's not just lack of money and materialistic things. Even the lack of respect, education, identity, dignity, social belonging (family, affections, relationships) can be treated as poverty. In American society, the federal poverty line is first established in 1960, and the official federal poverty line was formed in 1960. year 1995, as the following: for a family of 3 people with one child the income limit it is $12,158 and for a family of 4 with two children it is $15,569. But according to the most recent statistics from 2016: a family of 3 with one child, this is $19,055 and for a family of 4 with two children, the limit is $24,008. Among all industrialized countries, the United States has the highest percentage of young children in poverty. i.e. in the United States 21% of children under 18 are poor and 24% of children under 6 are poor. According to the 1995 US census, there are approximately 36.4 million poor, of which 14.7 million are children under 18 and 5.8 million are children under 6. More recent statistics show that this number has increased to 16 million children (under age 18) living below the poverty line in the United States, of which 5.5 million are infants and toddlers (under age 3 ). Definition of Child DevelopmentChild development refers to the development of motor skills, improved cognitive performance and good language skills, and the development of social and emotional functioning. Child development means having at least an average IQ, being able to compete with one's peers, sleeping well and growing up in a stimulating, stress-free environment. All this depends on the well-being of the children, the family context, the social network. Development of the child (and his brain) and the impact of poverty on it. Children from low-income families are at risk of many problems such as academic, social problems, poor health and well-being, which can, in turn, impair educational attainment. Poverty has always burdened these children and as a result they have shown slower growth rates in some key brain structures (frontal, temporal and parietal lobes). Additionally, gray matter volumes in various brain regions of these children in poverty are 3% to 4% points below the standard norm. The parietal lobe acts as a network hub that connects various parts to utilize stored information and any incoming information. The frontal lobe is the executive lobe, which controls our attention and regulates our behavior. It is one of the last parts of the brain to develop. The temporal lobe processes sensory input and helps maintain visual memory, language comprehension, and emotion association. The longer children live in poverty,the greater the deficit in their academic career. These patterns continue into adulthood, influencing reduced employment outcomes across the lifespan. The brain structure of children from disparate economic backgrounds is the same at birth. But they begin to separate in brain growth as these children grow, which implicates the environment these children face during the postnatal period. Various studies have been done evaluating the cognitive performance and IQ of children, correlating their family financial situation. Duyme et al is one such study and found a 13-point difference in the IQ of these children, comparing children from low-income families to those from high-income families. Studies conducted on non-human animals show that those left without toys and exercise in cages, and without opportunities to explore, showed low generation of neurons and synapses in the brain. Other studies have observed various health problems prevalent among children from low-income families. Obesity is seen in 40% more children and asthma is seen in 30% more children in low-income families than others. The dropout rate is almost double in these children and they are likely to face almost 9 times more food security problems and 7% more of them could become teenage mothers. Assessing the Current Measure of Poverty Scholars suggest that an ideal measure of poverty should meet two key criteria: public acceptability and statistical defensibility. Measures on child poverty are often not perfect and clear-cut. They alone cannot sufficiently measure deprivation in children. Children in low-income families tend to have nutrient-poor diets, will not have adequate books, will end up without educational toys, will not have adequate sleep, will grow up in an unsafe environment such as parental stress and insufficient enrichment. conversation. Empowering Families Today, the United States has most public schools attended primarily by low-income students. According to the National Center for Education Statistics in 2013, 51 percent of U.S. public school students came from low-income families. Children from these low-income families experienced poor school grades and low educational attainment. These patterns persist into adulthood and contribute to low wages and incomes. So far we have discussed how human brain growth and development is delayed by lack of enrichment. But wait, there's more good news. Less gray matter in the brain at age 4 is not necessarily a permanent/unchangeable problem. These people are not necessarily doomed and can fully recover if they are provided with an enriched, stimulating and safe environment. But as mentioned in the first part of this article, there are approximately 16 million children in the United States, of which 5.5 million are infants and toddlers, and their percentage only increases with time (percentage of infants and toddlers small, living in conditions (family income increased from 44% in 2008 to 47% in 2014). This makes the task of intervention difficult. Even providing simple things like “talking to and comforting these children”, “giving time to play” and “distress them with games in parks,” will enrich them. Communities are developing programs aimed at high-risk children by understanding the needs of parents, children and infants noted that the federal government intervenes in these low-income families through credits, 51(1), 12.