New studies shed light on early childhood issues - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

New information sheds light on how some stressful family situations early in life can have a major impact on children later in life.

Just published in the journal "Child Development" and released this morning, E. Mark Cummings of Notre Dame, found in his research that the impact of marital problems on children in their kindergarten years has a direct link to emotional problems in their teen years.

Conflict between parents during early childhood has a long-lasting effect and can lead to problems during adolescence including emotional insecurity, depression, and anxiety.

Cummings concluded, "Children's emotional security about family ties is related to their sense of protection, safety, and security, and has implications for how they do socially and emotionally."

That sense of safety and security at an early age is crucial for healthy emotional adjustment as children grow up.

So the next time you start a heated argument with your spouse in front of the kids, try to save it for later, in private.

Another study published in the same journal tackles the problem of childhood obesity.

This new research found a direct effect on a child's performance when it comes to math.

According Sara Gable from the University of Missouri, a complex relationship exists between a child's weight, social and emotional well-being, academics, and time.

Researchers followed more than 6,200 students from kindergarten through 5th grade, and found kids persistently obese during that time performed worse on math tests throughout the study when compared to children who were never obese.

For girls, fewer social skills explained some part of their poorer math performance.
For both boys and girls, feeling sad, lonely and more anxious also explained some of the performance.

However, if obesity emerged later on, like in third or fifth grade, the study found no such differences, or that poorer math performance was only temporary.

So, Gable concluded, "Obesity in the early years of school, especially obesity that persists across the elementary grades, can harm children's social and emotional well-being and academic performance."

Emotional well-being over time impacting academic performance raises yet another reason to tackle the childhood obesity epidemic in this country, and it has the attention of the government.