Study: Poverty Dramatically Affects Children's Brains

A new study finds that certain brain functions of some low-income 9- and 10-year-olds pale in comparison with those of wealthy children and that the difference is almost equivalent to the damage from a stroke.

"It is a similar pattern to what's seen in patients with strokes that have led to lesions in their prefrontal cortex," which controls higher-order thinking and problem solving, says lead researcher Mark Kishiyama, a cognitive psychologist at the University of California-Berkeley. "It suggests that in these kids, prefrontal function is reduced or disrupted in some way."

The study adds to a growing body of evidence that shows how poverty afflicts children's brains. Researchers have long pointed to the ravages of malnutrition, stress, illiteracy and toxic environments in low-income children's lives. Research has shown that the neural systems of poor children develop differently from those of middle-class children, affecting language development and "executive function," or the ability to plan, remember details and pay attention in school.

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Comments

[Social Construct]

I wonder how many people with the potential to bring great benefits to us all have been marginalized by this affliction? It is to our shame that we, as a nation, do not do more to provide equality of education.

[loril]

One book that has been recommended to me as being filled with insight is: A Framework for Understanding Poverty.

I have not yet read it, but plan to. It talks about the very different dynamic between people (in families, in community and in male/female relationships) -- within the different social classes.

It will also be grimly interesting to do a study in the future about "the new poor". What about parents who are college educated and from a middle class background, but who have fallen down the rungs to poverty or "working poor" (is there much difference?) class? Will their kids be similarly effected...or will they be able to import enough "middle class values" to their underprivileged offspring to give them a leg up? (The difference between "situational" poverty and "generational" poverty?)

It looks like we'll have statistically more people falling down the rungs than we have had in 3 or 4 generations, so our society will need to prepare.

[avraamjack]

I believe similar deficiencies are found in the children of dysfunctional alcoholic families. Allegedly that is considered a form of child abuse.

Do not ask for proof. It is not my field

[messy]

Until 150 years ago, all but kings and queens lived in poverty. An upper middle class family living in around 1790, would be considered almost camping out.

[Kiba]

This is why it benefits society to care for those who are the most unfortunate. The conservatives ask, "Why should we pay for them?" Make no mistake: Society will pay, one way or another. It always costs a lot more to clean up after the damage has been done than it does to prevent the damage.

Everyone benefits when we work together.

[hoodie]

School lunches will the the child labor nightmare of this generation. Cheap food = Bad health! We need to go back to foods actually being made in school by real people. We need to invest in our children by nurturing their minds and bodies. We will pay for this in the long run...trust me!

[curiousasheck]

Poverty is depressing there's no dispute about it. Having rich greedy parents can also be depressing.

[Gumby123]

Most people with common sense don't have children when they're poor.

[Aesthete]

We are our brother's keeper no matter what choices a person, poor or otherwise, makes. There is a price to pay down the road if we withhold our compassion from a fellow human being. Obviously, you've never walked in their shoes.

[bthechangeyouseek]

Very nice.

[greenfields]

The problem of food in this country should be a top priority.Here's the view from the field of an organic farmer, here is what food as usual is doing to this country.

We need to eliminate corporate farms (btw most are owned by chemical companies) - if you are not eating organic you are probably eating a) irradiated food b) if you are a meat eater and not eating organic you are eating animals fed genetically modified food, fed hormones.

In time the consumption of quality food would reduce our need for expensive health care...we would have a wellness program vs. the trauma program we presently are stuck in...waiting untill your food and environment attack your system.

The support of local farms would reduce the need to ship as much food across the country...­addressing our overuse of fossil fuels.

Food is of utmost importance to the fight against terrorism - back to the corporate farm - how easy to (through chemical warfare ) slip chems into a feedlot? Especially since the chems are so handily at the corp farms?


And of course supporting local organic or naturally grown foods supports local economy.

So...back to poverty and food ...if you really want to make a difference help form a community garden in your nieghborhood or the nearest inner city. Go to Change.gov and tell our new Agriculture minister - Tom Vilsack that we want a movement to create sustainable food coming from his office.

[hollybork]

This may explain why the average IQ of african american boys growing up in an urban environment is in the range of 85, which is considered a level of retardation.

[missviv]

PLEASE find me links to credible studies that back this up!!!

[blowhard]

You can't make this stuff up...hollybork

[trinity]

Mental retardation is classified as having a cognitive ability level below 70 (as well as low adaptive skills). 85-115 is considered average intelligence.

[Aesthete]

I grew up in a virtually all white neighborhood that was poverty-stricken and saw the exact same thing, except that the victims were white. The youngsters appeared malnourished with pale, parchment white skin; thin, sparse hair; teeth blackened by rampant caries; and extremely poor performance in school, coupled with poor attention spans. On top of everything else they got sick easily and often.

[TheBlackCat]

I used to live in Mexico, and I worked at an orphanage in Merida run by Catholic nuns, and ten years ago I could have told you what this article has concluded.

The poorer the environment these children came from, the worse off they were developmentally.

Though improving the availability and quality school lunches is a great idea, the unfortunate truth is that by that time it is usually too late.

Most of the kids would arrive at the orphanage very young, less than 3 years old. And the poorer the home they came from, the worse shape they were in. The orphanage was impoverished but well run. The kids received intense schooling, simple but adequet nutrition, and as much attention as the nuns and volunteers could give them. But no matter how much attention and food was given to them (always more given to the kids that were worst off), it wasn't enough to overcome the hardships of their infancy. Food was the most important factor. The less nutrition a baby had had, the more trouble that kid tended to have both emotionally and intellectually when they got older.

Unfortunately, how we are stimulated and fed in the first year or two of development often determines our entire lives. School intervention programs are a must, but usually those programs can only mitigate existing developmental problems, not prevent them.

[ThinkForYourself2]

These are generalizations.

[Kodachi]

Of course they are, that's the point of research.

[ThinkForYourself2]

So the statement might as well be made "rich kids are smart while poor kids are dumb". That's typical propaganda used frequently when trying to demonize groups and the target this time is poor children.

[NJmikeV]

When Jessee Jackson coined the phrase "economic violence" several years ago he was mocked.

If this isn't economic violence, what is ?

[cinemaven]

My family was low middle class and the street we lived on was mixed 50/50 with welfare families. I was invited to dinner at a friend's house and her mom brought a giant can of creamed corn to the table... cold and in the can with 5 spoons in it. I sat with wide eyes and the spoon in my hand as I watched my friend, her sisters and brother shovel it up like it was a contest (it was). No other food was offered. Their mom was the most hollowed out woman I've seen. She fed her kids what she could afford to feed them and fed them twice as much as she ate. They were a generational welfare family... the mom had been brought up by a single mom on welfare.

We ate "healthy" cereal for breakfast -bacon and eggs on weekends. Lunch was soup and a sandwich and dinner was always very boring meat, potatoes and vegetables with roast beef on Sundays. There was always a bowl of fruit on the table and if I was hungry, there was always more.

I told my mom about what we'd eaten and suddenly, 3 or 4 times a week, my friend was invited to dinner along with her younger sister and mom started packing double lunches.

I'm an advocate of school breakfast and lunch programs. It's hard to feed a child's spirit when they live in poverty but feeding their bodies goes a long way...

[rini]

Food is kinda important.

But you need language, too.. How can you have complex thought without any language? I have always thought that some people don't talk to their kids.. I mean really talk to their kids. I talk about feelings, politics, health, music fun etc.. to my kids. I have, since they were born.

Now, they won't shut up.

[kellysmalltowngirl]

It's hard to talk about feelings, politics, music, fun, school, etc. (or even notice them) when your mind is constantly preoccupied with matters of daily survival.

my heart hurts too

[Treehuggindirtworshiper]

When I was a kid school lunches were balanced and healthy.(And actually tasted good) My daughter takes her lunch everyday because the school lunch is awful. I realize school lunch is all some kids get. But what happened to healthy food. Almost everything that is served is processed (chicken nuggets, hambuger patties, ect.) They bake it so that makes it good for you?

[sunnybunny]

This story is a good example of poverty confused with stupidity. Why would you feed your kids a giant can of cold corn? Not because you are poor - because you are stupid! This woman was not even familiar with building a fire ? (assuming she didn't have a stove or a pan)
You can't throw money at these problems and make them go away. I have been poor all my life and while I have seen things like this go on a lot, it is not out of lack of resources, but rather ignorance about nutrition and a lack of skills.

[cinemaven]

You're exactly right... ignorance and a lack of skills
The woman wasn't stupid though, she just was tuned out due to a lot of factors. Her own unhealthy lifestyle contributed to the mix but she wasn't a drug user (except for prescriptives) or alcohol user and she was doing the best she was equipped to do.

When I had my kids, I had a wealth of history in healthy eating. I knew how to prevent pregnancy until I was ready to have kids and I had a huge network of support between my family and my husband's family. I also had a healthy body and mind because both had been nurtured by my parents. It makes a world of difference...

[Aesthete]

In my state, social service agencies would have removed these children from their mother's home, placing them in foster care and set up some sort of counseling and/or re-education for the mother based on her needs, assuming she could be salvaged and have the children returned to her. If, after a year or more, the mother showed no improvement, her parental rights would be yanked and the children would become available for adoption or at least remain in foster care until they turned eighteen.

[bthechangeyouseek]

Better to educate the mother and family together. Provide them with supplements from food stamps and WIC and help the children break this cycle, than to divide the family and put kids into foster care.

[cinemaven]

No, they wouldn't
This goes on all over the country ad nauseum and there aren't enough foster homes to begin with.
When someone is raised in an impoverished home (in every sense of the word) and is not nurtured, fed, encouraged and then they have children, they lack even the most basic of tools. My friend's mother was not stupid but her pilot light was definitely out. She was sleepwalking through her life and numbed by prescriptives.

We have the tools to identify generational welfare families but we choose not to do anything to intervene. There are no programs directed at generational welfare and the very unique problems and mindsets that come with it.

I volunteer at our food bank and I see women who are completely unfamiliar with vegetables. They have no idea how to cook beans, broccoli, mushrooms and they haven't put a salad together. They live on starches because that's filling and cheap. They didn't have a mom who wouldn't give them dessert if they didn't eat their veggies...

[EndangeredJackalope]

If we don't allow this discrepancy persist, how are we going to be able to blame them for their own poverty and dependence on social services (and justify our decadence) when they grow up?