And they may sleep better because they are healthier. It’s most likely part of a cascade of effects.
Things like food insecurity affect cortisol levels in young children, for example. Poverty takes a physical toll.
This is so sad…many impoverished human beings without access to proper nutrition nor the knowledge of it. So many things stacked against them. Please, consider making regular contributions to your local food banks.
Sorry, the title I gave that link is misleading. It’s not about nutrition, it’s about how stressors associated with low socioeconomic status affect brain chemistry.
We assessed parent-reported family income, parent education, occupational prestige, neighborhood risk, food insecurity, and household chaos for 12-month-old infants (N=90) and 3.5-year-old children (N=91).
It’s not the only finding like this, I’ve seen several over the years about the effects the stress of poverty has on brain chemistry.
Further to your suggestion about food banks, I’d suggest making cash donations so that the food bank staff can buy what’s needed and most practical. No one thinks of pads and tampons for example.
Thanks for the clarification and other good points!
Maybe I missed something, but I did not see that this was about poverty specifically. I suspect something like this runs across the spectrum not just poverty though of course it is probably worse in that case. For example in organizations, it is fairly well know that the over achievers can suppress the performance of people around them. This too has to be stressful.
3-year-old children don’t work in organisations. This research is on babies and very small children, who are still undergoing brain development.
Poverty is far from the only stressful thing in the world, I agree.
