by Kristi Caporoso
It is sometimes miraculous how resilient children of poverty can be. Some show great achievement in school and in their social life, despite their difficult upbringing and stresses early on in life. However, it's being discovered that although a child may appear to be doing well, the stress of their early life may have had unknown physiological damage. This could lead to an increased likelihood of developing a chronic illness during the aging process.Early life stress has a significant effect on a child's body. While they may be resilient emotionally and socially, which is very important, their bodies are going through attack from increased stress without them or anyone else even realizing it. A study was conducted with kids who were raised in poverty, reviewing their social skills and emotional well being at ages 11-13. While they were good for the resilient kids of the study, by age 19 they had a high allostatic load. "Allostatic load is a measure of stress hormones, blood pressure and body mass index." This study showed that although kids who lived in poverty and suffered early life stresses were emotionally and socially sound, by the time they got older their physical well-being had been affected. Why does this occur? When the body is under stress, hormones are secreted such as cortisol that help the body cope with stress in the short term, but have negative effects in the long term if too many of them are released. These hormones can wear down the immune system, leading to an increased likelihood of developing a chronic disease as the kids get older.
Stress effects us all, and wears down all of our bodies. While there may not be much we can do to prevent early life stress for children, especially those living in poverty, it is important not to overlook the stress they encounter just because they have "beaten the odds" and show outward resiliency. Studies says that kids who fall under this category should be kept an eye on, and get yearly check-ups to ensure good health and catch any developing conditions before they worsen.
Source: http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/05/31/stress-of-poverty-may-influence-health-among-resilient-kids/55447.html
