Jyoti Madhusoodanan and Nature magazine reported in the Scientific American article, Stress Alters Children’s Genomes:
Growing up in a stressful social environment leaves lasting marks on young chromosomes, a study of African American boys has revealed. Telomeres, repetitive DNA sequences that protect the ends of chromosomes from fraying over time, are shorter in children from poor and unstable homes than in children from more nurturing families…
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stress-alters-childrens-genomes/?WT.mc_id=SA_Facebook
Not only are the child’s gene’s altered, but there are behavioral indications of the stress being felt by the child.
Will Huntsberry of NPR wrote in the article, Kids’ Drawings Speak Volumes About Home:
When children reach 6 years old, their drawings matter.
Not because of those purple unicorns or pinstripe dragons but because of how kids sketch themselves and the very real people in their lives.
In a new study, researchers found that children who experienced chaos at home — including high levels of noise, excessive crowding, clutter and lack of structure — were more likely to draw themselves at a distance from their parents or much smaller in size relative to other figures.
In some cases, these kids drew themselves with drooping arms and indifferent or sad faces.
Their drawings were a reflection of this simple fact: Chaos at home meant parents were interacting with them less and, in many cases, the interactions that were happening were shorter and interrupted.
As a result, kids ended up with a depreciated sense of self, says Roger Mills-Koonce, who led the study with Bharathi Zvara at UNC-Chapel Hill. To be clear, Mills-Koonce did not blame parents or caretakers but called this kind of stress in the home a “function of poverty….” http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2014/12/08/368693069/kids-drawings-speak-volumes-about-home
This comment is not politically correct. If you want politically correct, stop reading. Children, especially boys, need positive male role models. They don’t need another “uncle” or “fiancée” who when the chips are down cashes out. By the way, what is the new definition of “fiancée?” Is that someone who is rented for an indefinite term to introduce the kids from your last “fiancée” to? Back in the day, “fiancée” meant one was engaged to be married, got married and then had kids. Nowadays, it means some one who hangs around for an indeterminate period of time and who may or may not formalize a relationship with baby mama. Kids don’t need someone in their lives who has as a relationship strategy only dating women with children because they are available and probably desperate. What children, especially boys, need are men who are consistently there for them, who model good behavior and values, and who consistently care for loved ones. They don’t need men who have checked out of building relationships and those who are nothing more than sperm donors.
Science Daily reported in Neighborhood wellbeing and a sense of community is at the heart of a good home, say researchers:
A sense of wellbeing and a thriving community is key to a happy neighbourhood according to housing researchers, who looked at the relationship between the experience of the home and wellbeing.
The study led by the Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management based at the Universities of Birmingham and Manchester and funded by VIVID homes, examined a mix of social renters compared to, shared owners and owner-occupiers.
Building on initial findings published in winter 2017, the full research report ‘Homes & Wellbeing – breaking down housing stereotypes’ suggests that social housing plays a positive role in protecting people from anxiety.
Interviewing different types of tenants, including owner occupiers and social renters, the researchers found that what really mattered was feeling secure and having a degree of control over their home. In comparison, other aspirations such as climbing onto the housing ladder featured as less of a priority.
Dr James Gregory, Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management, University of Birmingham said: ‘We have consistently found that, no matter what the tenure or ownership status of a person’s home, one of the most significant features of a good home is a sense of security and confidence that you can ‘get away from it all’ at home. Good neighbours, good design and good management are all as important for wellbeing as a person’s tenure or tenancy.’
Other factors found to affect well-being included financial pressures such as debt and the stress of raising children, with the view that housing was a vital part of the wellbeing story, but should be understood in a wider setting.
Based on their findings the researchers made key recommendations:
· Social housing should be seen as a policy tool for addressing the housing needs of more than just the most vulnerable;
· A wider social housing offer may actually be better for their wellbeing, providing the emotional security and stability that is one of the key drivers of the apparent aspiration to own a home;
· The report points to a need to look at how the social housing sector could deliver a step-change in the supply of social housing… https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180316101018.htm
Citation:
Neighborhood wellbeing and a sense of community is at the heart of a good home, say researchers
Date: March 16, 2018
Source: University of Birmingham
Summary:
A sense of wellbeing and a thriving community is key to a happy neighborhood according to housing researchers, who looked at the relationship between the experience of the home and well-being.University of Birmingham. “Neighborhood wellbeing and a sense of community is at the heart of a good home, say researchers.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 16 March 2018. .
Here is the press release from the University of Birmingham:
Neighbourhood wellbeing and a sense of community is at the heart of a good home, say researchers
Posted on 16 Mar 2018
A sense of wellbeing and a thriving community is key to a happy neighbourhood according to housing researchers, who looked at the relationship between the experience of the home and wellbeing.
The study led by the Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management based at the Universities of Birmingham and Manchester and funded by VIVID homes, examined a mix of social renters compared to, shared owners and owner occupiers.
Building on initial findings published in winter 2017, the full research report ‘Homes & Wellbeing – breaking down housing stereotypes’ suggests that social housing plays a positive role in protecting people from anxiety.
Interviewing different types of tenants, including owner occupiers and social renters, the researchers found that what really mattered was feeling secure and having a degree of control over their home. In comparison other aspirations such as climbing onto the housing ladder featured as less of a priority.
Dr James Gregory, Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management, University of Birmingham said: ‘We have consistently found that, no matter what the tenure or ownership status of a person’s home, one of the most significant features of a good home is a sense of security and confidence that you can ‘get away from it all’ at home. Good neighbours, good design and good management are all as important for wellbeing as a person’s tenure or tenancy.’
Other factors found to affect well-being included financial pressures such as debt and the stress of raising children, with the view that housing was a vital part of the wellbeing story, but should be understood in a wider setting.
Based on their findings the researchers made key recommendations:
• Social housing should be seen as a policy tool for addressing the housing needs of more than just the most vulnerable;
• A wider social housing offer may actually be better for their wellbeing, providing the emotional security and stability that is one of the key drivers of the apparent aspiration to own a home;
• The report points to a need to look at how the social housing sector could deliver a step-change in the supply of social housing.
Professor Andy Lymer, Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management, University of Birmingham, explained: ‘There’s an affordability crisis in the housing system and financial challenges are driven by government policy (the loss of grant and changes to how developers can discharge their Section 106 obligations), as well as the cost of land in the ever-rising housing market.
‘But, it’s more vital than ever that housing associations shape the future delivery for the wellbeing of its customers and society as a whole.’
Mark Perry, Chief Executive of VIVID said: ‘We’re dedicated to building more homes, while looking after the wellbeing of our customers.
‘Our research shows that the most crucial part of the home, is the social fabric of the neighbourhood in which it’s embedded. The social value of tenure mix and giving people the opportunities to interact with each other, all reduce neighbourhood tension. Build quality also comes hand in hand with this; ensuring we have well built homes that help give security as well as allow for the development of a community is clearly very important.
‘We need to think harder about how we build new homes and neighbourhoods, and create the right environment for communities to thrive. It’s important we get it right, to make sure everyone has the best chance in life.’
ENDSFor interview enquiries, please contact Rebecca Hume, Communications Manager, University of Birmingham on +44 (0)121 414 9041.
For out of hours media enquiries, please call: +44 (0) 7789 921 165
Notes to editors
• The full report can be found online here
• The University of Birmingham is ranked among the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 5,000 international students from over 150 countries.
• The Centre for Household Assets and Savings Management (CHASM) is based jointly in the School of Social Policy and the Birmingham Business School within the College of Social Sciences. CHASM forms part of the University of Birmingham’s £60 million ‘Circles of Influence’ campaign.
• Vivd Homes is Hampshire’s largest provider of affordable homes with around 70,000 customers and 30,000 homes in the South East, mainly across Hampshire and Surrey. Vivid have around 800 staff including our repairs team and our own construction arm, VIVID Build. https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2018/03/neighbourhood-wellbeing-and-a-sense-of-community-at-the-heart-of-a-good-home.aspx
Moi blogs about education issues so the reader could be perplexed sometimes because moi often writes about other things like nutrition, families, and personal responsibility issues. Why? The reader might ask? Children will have the most success in school if they are ready to learn. Ready to learn includes proper nutrition for a healthy body and the optimum situation for children is a healthy family. Many of society’s problems would be lessened if the goal was a healthy child in a healthy family. There is a lot of economic stress in the country now because of unemployment and underemployment. Children feel the stress of their parents and they worry about how stable their family and living situation is.
The best way to eliminate poverty is job creation, job growth, and job retention. The Asian Development Bank has the best concise synopsis of the link between education and poverty in Assessing Development Impact: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty Through Education http://www.adb.org/documents/assessing-development-impact-breaking-cycle-poverty-through-education There will not be a good quality of life for most citizens without a strong education system. One of the major contributors to poverty in third world nations is limited access to education opportunities. Without continued sustained investment in education, we are the next third world country. See, http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2330/Poverty-Education.html
Our goal as a society should be:
A healthy child in a healthy family who attends a healthy school in a healthy neighborhood ©
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