For the third year in a row now, childhood stress has ranked as a top health concern among children, according to the fifth annual survey of the top 10 health concerns for kids conducted by the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health. While stress has moved down two spots from last year (from #5 to #7), stress still ranks as a higher concern than alcohol use, driving accidents, and sexting (all of which can bring considerable stress, but that's a different blog post). This survey, conducted in May 2011, asked adults to rate 23 different childhood issues on how problematic they appear to be for children's health. 22% of adults rated stress as a "big problem," though I personally would expect a higher percentage of children themselves to rate stress as a big problem.
"As we reported in July 2009, levels of stress among children may relate to economic stresses faced by their families in the current economic downturn," says Davis, associate professor of general pediatrics and internal medicine at the U-M Medical School, and associate professor of public policy at the U-M Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. "The fact that stress rates so high in the list of child health problems is a reminder that most of the problems on the list are behavioral or psychological in nature," he says in a press release last year.
In case you're curious, the top 10 overall health concerns for U.S. children in 2011 and the percentage of adults who rate each item as a "big problem" include:
- 1. Childhood obesity, 33%
- 2. Drug abuse, 33%
- 3. Smoking and tobacco use, 25%
- 4. Teen pregnancy, 24%
- 5. Bullying, 24%
- 6. Internet safety, 23%
- 7. Stress, 22%
- 8. Alcohol abuse, 20%
- 9. Driving accidents, 20%
- 10. Sexting, 20%
While we can't completely eliminate the stressors our children face, there are things we can start doing today to help our children to better cope with stress. These resources can get you started.
Stress Management Resources for Children and Families:
How do you help your kids relieve stress, or relive stress as a family? How did your parents help you to relieve stress as a kid? Share your strategies in the comments section, and please pass this along to others who could use the information.
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Source: Newswise
