Families are central to children’s development. Besides health and development, children gain cognitive, language, and personal-social interaction skills by interacting with family members. When parents’ health and well-being is not okay, children’s health and development can be compromised.
Parents are essential resources for children in managing emotional arousal, coping, and managing behavior. They also have a responsibility to provide their children with a healthy diet that promotes normal growth and development.
Effects of parents’ health and well-being on children
Impact of parents’ mental health on children
One is said to be mentally healthy if he/she can cope with the normal stresses of life and work productively. Poor mental health can alter your capacity to make healthy decisions and fight chronic diseases. Neglecting your mental well-being can lead to serious health conditions such as high blood pressure, obesity, weakened immunity, gastrointestinal diseases, and premature death.
As a parent, dealing with mental health issues can impact how you interact with your child. For example, you may be unavailable emotionally to form an emotional connection and this can affect the parent-child bond. A well-built parent-child association helps build a child’s resilience. Acting as a barrier against anxiety and other factors that affect the mental health of a child.
Mental health challenges in parents affect their ability to positively support, stimulate, and play with their children. This may affect a child’s cognitive, mental, and physical development. Mental health in childhood includes acquiring developmental and emotional milestones, learning to cope with problems, and having good social skills.
Alcohol and substance abuse
Parents influence the health and safety of their children in many ways. More often, children are abused and not taken care of when parents are abusing alcohol and other drugs. They can develop physical and mental illnesses like anxiety-based illnesses such as asthma, or migraines.
They can also face verbal, physical, or sexual abuse from a parent who is under the influence of substances. The social and emotional effects of abuse include difficulty in forming lasting friendships, inability to trust, and excessive hostility towards others. They use aggression to solve interpersonal issues and may engage in criminal activities.
Children brought up by parents who abuse alcohol have a high likelihood of struggling with emotional behaviors, health, or substance use problems. Many of them have challenges in school and more often than not have low self-esteem.
Due to negligence and lack of parental care, children develop nutrient deficiencies and consequently severe malnutrition. This eventually leads to impaired cognitive development, that is, the ability of a child to think and reason, and physical, and social developments. It also affects their health.
These cognitive impairments can continue into adulthood and cause academic delays, low IQ scores, poor reading skills, and an inability to regulate attention. Alcohol and substance abuse can also lead to chronic diseases such as lung and heart diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer to the user.
Effects of chronic diseases on the growth and development of your child
Chronic conditions are long-term illnesses that require ongoing medical attention or limit activities of daily living. Chronic illnesses influence your ability to work and do daily activities. This may cause financial difficulties and lower your family’s quality of life.
A child’s education may be affected due to the lack of school fees and essential requirements for learning. Continuous financial constraints can lead to reduced food purchasing power.
Lack of enough food affects the health of your child and can cause nutritional deficiencies. In some cases, a child is forced to work to provide for the ailing parent. This interferes with their physical, mental, and social growth.
Apart from interfering with the mental and social function of a parent, chronic conditions can affect the mental well-being of a child. Mental health conditions can affect their social and cognitive function, which negatively contributes to the adoption of healthy behaviors. Some of these behaviors are unhealthy eating and sleeping habits, and abuse of alcohol and substances.
As a result of frequent hospital visits and hospitalization, the time spent with your child is reduced. This can lead to feelings of loneliness, and anxiety and can cause depression. The child develops negative peer interaction and poor social skills. Insecurity, lack of confidence, and assertiveness when solving problems are some of the behavioral, emotional, and interpersonal skills that are affected as a result of frequent parent absenteeism.
Parents’ health and well-being affect the growth and development of their children in one way or another. As a parent, you can do your part by providing a stable home, ensuring your child understands social norms, and providing them with the necessary skills to tackle difficult times. You can also avoid/ prevent any negative behavior that compromises the well-being of your child.