Chapter 11 Contemporary Issues in a Global Society

Poverty and life chances The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA, 2006) formally agreed an internationally accepted means of viewing child poverty and, in doing so, emphasised that whilst severe deprivation of goods and basic services adversely affects everyone, ‘...it is most threatening and harmful to children, leaving them unable to enjoy their rights, to reach their full potential and to participate as full members of society’. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) (2007) emphasised how it is important to separate ‘child poverty’ from popular notions of poverty. In particular, they stressed how attempts at measuring child poverty should not be ‘lumped together’ with measurements of general poverty, which typically focus upon income levels and should take into account access to basic social services, in particular diet and nutrition, clean and drinkable water, effective sanitation and shelter and, importantly, education.

Poverty and life chances A UK government report in 2011 entitled A new Approach to Child Poverty: Tackling the Causes of Disadvantage and Transforming Families (Gov.uk, 2011) indicated that some 800,000 children in families with a disabled member were living in relative poverty. The report also indicated how children from black and ethnic families were twice as likely to live in poverty as those from white families, and that 1.1 million children in lone parent families were living in relative poverty.

Obesity The number of overweight children below the age of five years increased from 32 million globally in 1990 to 42 million in 2013 with an increase from four to nine million overweight or obese children being recorded in the World Health Organisation (WHO) African region during this same period (WHO, 2015a). A concerning fact is that the majority of children who are overweight or obese are growing up in developing countries with an estimated rate of increase being 30 per cent higher than that of developed countries. The WHO estimates that if current trends continue, the number of overweight or obese infants and young children across the globe will rise over the next decade to around 70 million in 2025.

Mental health The World Health Organisation (WHO, 2015) estimated in 2015 that across the globe 10–20 per cent of children and adolescents experience mental disorders with 50 per cent of all mental illness starting by 14 years of age and neuropsychiatric conditions being the main cause of disability in young people. When untreated, problems impact significantly upon children’s development, their educational achievements and their ability to have fulfilling and productive lives. Children, the WHO emphasised, who have mental disorders, ‘… face major challenges with stigma, isolation and discrimination, as well as lack of access to health care and education facilities, in violation of their fundamental human rights’. Children with mental health problems are typically at much greater risk of having physical health problems and are also more likely to be smokers. Those who present with eating disorders and the early onset of psychosis are especially at risk.

Child-centredness in a changing world All children have a right to grow up safe from harm. Children from all cultures can, however, find themselves subjected to neglect and even abuse. Different races, cultures and ethnicities have different approaches to bringing up children. Other cultures have demonstrated models of thinking that encompass empathy, sensitivity and very helpful ways of conceptualising learning in childhood. The Scandinavian notion of ‘Maskrosbarn’, for example, is one where children are viewed as hardy ‘dandelions’ who thrive and grow no matter what the circumstances are; even when there is poor support from parents, these ‘dandelion’ children become resilient and are able to cope adequately when in stressful situations. In contrast, ‘Orkidebarn’ children are viewed as being like the orchid flower – delicate and weak and ‘prone to withering’ (Ellis and Boyce, 2008, p184). In regard to ‘Orkidebarn’ children it is possible to reflect upon how some early years environments might be potentially damaging if learning is almost totally adult-led.

References Ellis, B. and Boyce, W. (2008) ‘Biological sensitivity to context’, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17(3): 183–187 Gov.UK (2011) A New Approach to Child Poverty: Tackling the Causes of Disadvantage and Transforming Families. Norwich: The Stationery Office. UNGA (2006) Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Children, Report of the Third Committee. New York: United Nations. UNICEF (2007) UN General Assembly Adopts Powerful Definition of Child Poverty. New York: UNICEF. World Health Organisation (WHO) (2015) Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Available at: http://www.who.int/mental_health/maternal-child/child_adolescent/en/.