Archive for category: Health

Information and stories on health topics.

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Using Satellite Technology to Eradicate Polio

To date, there have been eight attempts to eliminate polio, along with a score of other infectious diseases around the world, but only the elimination of smallpox has been successful. Using modern day smartphone and satellite technology, however, the World Health Organization (WHO) can better locate remote areas where polio is still a threat.

Polio has been eradicated in all but three countries: Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The disease is spread by direct person-to-person contact, as well as indirect contact. Insecurity, poor health care and lack of proper sanitation are all reasons as to why these countries still struggle with a preventable disease that is only a distant memory to many countries around the world.

Polio is an disease that can lead to paralysis and even death if not treated. Unfortunately, there is no cure for polio once the infection takes hold, only treatment to make living with it more bearable. However, 100 percent of cases are preventable if every child under the age of five receives a vaccination. In countries like the U.S., the polio vaccine is mandatory.

In order to locate remote communities in Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, WHO workers use geographic information systems (GIS). GIS involves transmitting satellite images to a computer in order to map an area. In the past—as little as ten years ago—those who wanted to map an area of land would have to fly over it and take pictures. GIS is an improvement on this, as it is remote and allows for more land to be mapped more quickly.

By using GIS, those at WHO can determine the location of extremely rural villages where children need to be vaccinated for the first time, or maybe even the fourth or fifth time, as certain remaining strains of polio are stronger and require multiple vaccinations.

This technology can also be connected to WHO members’ smartphones and allow the organization to track the location of employees, volunteers and patients. This has allowed for an increase in the number of vaccinations, as well as better supervision on the part of the WHO. It is extremely difficult for volunteers to slack off or lie when the operation is being monitored so closely.

Before this collaboration of satellite imaging and smartphones, it was extremely difficult to know which households had been vaccinated and educated on polio prevention and which had not. But since 1988, polio has been reduced by 99 percent, with cases down from more than 350,000 a year to only 406 in 2013.

However, 99 percent is not 100 percent. Technology and dedication may not be enough to completely eradicate the disease, as distrust of western medicine instigated by propaganda from groups such as the Taliban have made it difficult for workers to administer the vaccine.

– Taylor Lovett

Sources: Information Week Health Care, Global Polio Eradication Initiative, World Health Organization
Photo: Lasker Foundation

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IMA World Health

IMA World Health is a faith-based organization that is dedicated to providing health services in order to create sustainable and long-lasting healthy communities around the world.

The organization operates with four major goals at the forefront of all of its projects: to build new health systems and strengthen existing health systems in order to provide people vulnerable to disease with the care they deserve; to partner with other faith-based and international organizations in order to best spread the mission of universal care; to exercise technical excellence in all aspects of its practice; and finally to set up a organized health systems in order to best distribute quality care to mass amounts of people.

IMA World Health is also a big proponent of empowering women across the globe and currently has many projects set up in order to help give women the chance at a better life. Some of these projects include literary circles, in which women are taught basic reading and writing skills to help them gain a higher position within their communities. USHINDI is a program that provides legal and psychological counseling to women who have faced traumatic experiences. WeWillSpeakOut.US is a program dedicated to breaking the silence surrounding sexual violence against women, and the Women’s Leadership project is an effort to promote women’s leadership both in and outside of the home.

IMA World Health additionally prides itself on its ability to deliver medical supplies to communities that are unable to provide for themselves. Projects currently being implemented include the IMA Medicine Box, which when distributed, can treat up to 1,000 people in remote villages for around two months. The box includes antibiotics, first aid items and pain medication. The IMA Safe Motherhood Kit includes sterile birthing materials in order to reduce mothers’ chance of infection upon delivery. Lastly, the Gifts in Kind program has allowed supplies to be donated to 72 countries with over $100 million worth of medical supplies.

– Jordyn Horowitz

Sources: IMA World Health, GlobalGiving, Forbes
Photo: IMA World Health

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INMED Partnerships for Children

Institute for International Medicine Partnerships for Children is an organization dedicated to preventing and combating the harm that comes to children through violence, disease, hunger and neglect.

INMED Partnerships for Children values taking a holistic approach to improve children’s health worldwide through addressing the causes of disease and hunger and attempting to remedy them from the source. INMED is dedicated in implementing long-term solutions to enhance both the quality and longevity of children’s lives.

Founded 27 years ago, INMED has stuck by its original goal of helping to improve the health and safety of children all over the globe.  Led by President and CEO Linda Pfeiffer, INMED has been targeting programs and delivering care to help children in both urban and rural areas of the world.  INMED also has offices worldwide, in places such as Virginia, Peru, Brazil, South Africa and the Caribbean.

INMED has partnered with a diverse group of companies in order to make sure they best spread their mission. They have partnered with companies such as Macy’s, the Ronald McDonald House Charities, the International Foundation, United States Agency for International Development, Kids in Distressed Situations, Johnson and Johnson and many more.

INMED maps out large areas they want to improve and then tailors specific projects to fall into those categories. These broader categories include health and nutrition, youth development, education and skill building, and adaptive agriculture and aquaponics.

One of INMEDs upcoming events will be the 2015 Harvest the Future International Conference, which is set to take place June 14-17, 2015 in Montego Bay, Jamaica.  Experts from across the globe will gather at this conference in order to discuss possible solutions to problems such as water scarcity, income generation sustainable livelihoods, nutrition and health, food security and climate change adaptation.

Conference speakers include Christopher Somerville, an Urban Agriculture Consultant at Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States, Denise A. Herbol, Mission Director at US Agency for International Development, and Thad M. Jackson, Executive Vice President of INMED Partnership.

– Jordyn Horowitz

Sources: INMED, INMED 2, INMED 3, Middleburg Women
Photo: Zimbio

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Primer on Food Insecurity

Hunger kills more people per year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Nearly 842 million people in the world do not have enough to eat and 98.2 percent of them live in developing countries. Yet hunger is essentially man-made; it is a product of poverty. In a world that can produce more than enough food to sustain everyone, hunger is due to human inefficiencies and inaction.

In the world of global poverty, “food insecurity” is a term often mentioned. But what exactly is food insecurity, what are its effects and how can it be prevented?

What is Food Insecurity?

In order to understand food insecurity, it is important to first define food security. According to the World Food Summit of 1996, food security exists “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.”

This condition is based on three components: availability, access and use. First, a sustainable and sufficient food supply must exist to prevent malnutrition. Second, people must have both the physical and economic resources to obtain that food. And third, people must be able to use food in conjunction with clean water and sanitary practices to keep healthy, especially in countries where food-borne diarrhea has the potential to cause serious harm. Food insecurity means being without any of these critical components.

At its core, food security provides recipients with the elements necessary for optimal health and nutrition. But it depends on a sustainable, dependable and sufficient food supply system. Such a system solves not only issues of hunger, but also benefits environmental health, the economy and social equality.

What are the Effects of Food Insecurity?

Without sustainable and dependable food sources, malnutrition can wreak havoc on a population. Lack of access to sanitation and clean water can also spread diarrhea and other food-borne illnesses, which are especially deadly to young children. In addition, lack of proper access to food hinders development and trade. Victims of malnutrition are unable to work productively or put energy into new endeavors. When the majority of a country suffers from food insecurity, it is unlikely that substantial development will occur. This leads to a vicious cycle of poverty, hunger and stagnation.

How Can Food Insecurity be Prevented?

Food insecurity can be ameliorated by increasing local food production, increasing food imports, providing more jobs and higher pay for poverty-stricken communities and improving food distribution infrastructure. But food insecurity is a multifaceted issue, one which complicates any potential solutions. An example of a promising idea gone wrong is that of self-sufficiency.

Food self-sufficiency—in other words, meeting all food needs through domestic production—used to be a promising potential solution for developing nations. Not only would countries be able to buffer themselves from the fluctuations of international prices and trade, they would also be able to allocate more funds to the purchasing of foreign commodities instead of foodstuffs. Self-sufficiency was touted as a method to ensure that sufficient food was always available for a country’s population.

Yet in reality, many issues arose. Climatic factors and natural events such as storms, flooding and droughts could rapidly deplete or destroy resources and force nations to depend on foreign aid or imports. In arid regions, a disproportionate amount of available water and land resources were devoted to irrigation, depriving other sectors of water. Some countries even accumulated massive water deficits trying to produce their own grains.

Today, the most reliable solution seems to be a combination of self-sufficiency and food imports. Because of recent water scarcities, it is no longer feasible for many countries to irrigate their lands or grow certain crops. In addition, labor in industries other than agriculture can lead to higher returns and profits. This makes it easier to exchange national commodities for food imports.

However, poor developing countries in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia struggle to both grow their own food and purchase necessary food imports. Food aid is the quickest solution in such dire cases of food insecurity. But this also stresses the need for more long-term, extensive agriculture infrastructure programs. Such programs have great potential to increase food security by stimulating national productivity and reducing poverty.

-Mari LeGagnoux 

Sources: WHO, World Food Programme, FAO
Photo: Agripolicy outreach

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Five Current Global Issues

current global issues
In the 21 century, the world has made great strides in reducing poverty, eliminating diseases and improving the quality of life for all. However, this progress rests on shaky foundations. Current global issues threaten to undermine humanity’s attempts to better the world and damage all of society.

According to the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability, global issues are those that potentially affect everyone on earth, not just large groups of people. Similarly, solutions to global issues require all people to cooperate in order to meaningfully change the status quo. Since they pose a fundamental risk to society as a whole, global issues require much attention.

Here are just five examples of current global issues. Many of them are interconnected, but any one of them could have serious consequences for everyone if left unchecked.

1. Terrorism

International terrorist organizations can cause conflict anywhere, thus terrorism is a global issue. The expansion of attacks by terrorists hurts many people in developing countries; according to the U.S. State Department, terrorist attacks killed over 11,000 and wounded 21,000 in 2012.

Terrorism also had wide-ranging economic impacts. Former U.S. Ambassador Francis Taylor found that global airline industries lost             $15 billion and global insurance industries lost $50 billion in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. World governments will need to strengthen their relations and promote democratic principles to reduce terrorist threats.

2. Lack of International Labor Laws

Weak international labor laws are a global issue because they hurt workers in the developing world and the economies of developed nations. Laws must exist to protect workers’ rights while allowing multinational firms to do business. The World Bank urges countries to cooperate and strengthen labor laws to prevent abuses and ensure fair wages; at the same time, the laws must facilitate wealth creation. Without optimal rules, the world economy weakens and workers face terrible conditions.

3. Climate Change

Climate change affects all of earth’s environments and is thus a global issue. A report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that droughts and extreme weather would intensify globally, leading to poor crop yield, water shortages and even desertification. The worst-affected areas, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, will have trouble adapting because per capita GDP is low; millions will be unable to grow or afford food and will starve.

As entire regions face food crises, global economic production becomes much lower, and nations have to care for hungry refugees that flee inhospitable conditions. To prevent the situation from becoming worse, the world must adopt more sustainable energy policies and waste management practices.

4. Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotic resistance is another global issue that threatens the health of millions and the progress of modern medicine. In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the discovery of drug-resistant E. coli, staph and pneumonia-causing viruses all over the world; it also found that 20 percent of previously treated tuberculosis cases were drug-resistant.

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant disease is extremely dangerous. Antibiotics that people use to treat serious infections will stop working and disease fatalities will increase. The global community will need to implement stronger restrictions on antibiotic use to curb drug resistance in deadly diseases.

5. Poverty

While many of the above problems exacerbate poverty in many world regions, poverty itself is a global issue because it leads to social problems that affect even the richest people. According to the research site Poverties.org, poverty leads to higher crime rates, more instances of substance abuse and greater susceptibility to infectious disease. This hurts economic productivity and can lead to instability. Poverty also is linked to terrorism. Consequently, the world must fight poverty to address other global issues.

The world’s current global issues are complex, interconnected problems that require concentrated action for systemic change. Any single global issue could become a crisis with huge economic and human costs. Only with strong international cooperation can the world solve global issues.

-Ted Rappleye

Sources: U.S. State Department 1, U.S. State Department 2, World Bank, OECD, WHO, Poverties, Nautilus Institute
Photo: Flickr

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History and Causes of the Somali Famine

somali hunger

Famine entails a widespread and extensive scarcity of food, attributed to a “triple failure” of food production, access to food and political response by governments and international donors.

According to the U.N.’s five-step scale of Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, famine (Stage 5) requires that “more than two people per 10,000 die each day, acute malnutrition rates are above 30 percent, all livestock is dead and there is less than 2,100 kilocalories of food and 4 liters of water available per person per day.”

By the time the U.N. declares a Stage 5 situation, there has already been massive loss of life. From 2010 to 2012, Somalia was gripped by a crippling famine that killed nearly 260,000 people. Half of these deaths were children under the age of five.

Somalia was devastated by a two-year drought, which caused reduced harvests, food inflation and a steep drop in labor demand and household incomes. The country had already been suffering from high levels of malnutrition and child mortality, but the drought skyrocketed numbers even further. It also killed off valuable livestock, the only assets many families possessed.

Learn what causes poverty.

But what turned a natural drought into a man-made catastrophe was the inability of Somalia’s government and donors to tackle the issue of chronic poverty. There was already a serious lack of development and investment in basic infrastructure. During the famine, healthcare professionals reacted too slowly and the government itself was in shambles.

Somalia has been entangled in a civil war for the past two decades, and the subsequent violence and upheaval have greatly contributed to the famine.

During the 2010 to 2012 famine, the Islamist group al-Shabaab was at war with the government. Another factor was that the United States—Somalia’s main source of food aid—had discontinued their supply of aid in 2009 to avoid providing food to al-Shabaab.

Since the civil war began, and after an inadequate U.S.-led intervention attempt, the West largely withdrew from Somalia’s affairs. Having failed to stabilize the state and provide the needy with food, a worrisome pattern emerged. Humanitarian aid and food relief were only brought into Somalia with the permission of local war lords or clans, who used violence to control access to resources.

The U.S. withdrawal of aid in 2009 also pressured international aid organizations to do the same, because they feared U.S. backlash should they continue to provide food or supplies.

The U.N. first declared famine in Somalia’s Southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions—both controlled by al-Shabaab. The militant group denied that there were any food shortages whatsoever, forbade famine victims from fleeing the country and banned international aid agencies from operating within its territories.

The Obama administration responded by providing waivers to aid organizations to protect against prosecution. This shifted all blame of food aid blockages to al-Shabaab, which subsequently led to a sharp drop in public support for the group. Bereft of support and power, Al-Shabaab withdrew from the capital city of Mogadishu, which they had occupied since 2008.

The U.N. declared the Somali famine over in February 2012. However, the strain on al-Shabaab and similar organizations continues to grow as people demand more access to food aid. Ethiopia and Kenya have considered training Somali militia to fight al-Shabaab and other terrorist organizations, but this could prove to be a dangerous move in such a conflict-ridden country.

In the 21st century, the public has the ability to completely eradicate famine, and has done so on every continent except Africa. In order to fight famine successfully, a variety of steps must be taken. More funding must be invested in African food production to prevent droughts from completely annihilating crops. There must be more support for farmers and pastoralists to raise hardier crops with cheaper inputs and learn about risk management in the case of a disaster. More aid must also go to infrastructure investment and fortification of unstable markets.

Currently, emergency aid is vital to helping Somalians gain a foothold after this devastating famine. However, effort must also be made to examine the root causes, in order to prevent similar disasters from occurring in the future. The world was slow to act on warning signs this time, but with greater long-term investment, Somalia has the potential to deal with droughts and natural disasters effectively and without external aid.

– Mari LeGagnoux

Sources: Oxfam, SBS, Foreign Affairs, BBC
Photo: Flickr

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Three Simple Ways We Can Help End Starvation

Nearly 25,000 people die every day from starvation. While in richer countries nutrition isn’t always a paramount problem, there are still 947 million people living in developing nations who are undernourished; we have the ability to help lower this number. Below are a list of ways you can help easily end starvation.

1. Raise Money

During the 2011 East African famine, relief organizations such as Save The Children and UNICEF launched campaigns to raise money for feeding starving children. By using clear and simple incentives (“just $10 can feed a child for seven days!”), smart organizations allowed even those halfway across the world to help those in need. Donating money is simple, easy and can usually be done online with just a click of a button.

2. Urge your Congressional Leaders to Support Crucial Legislation

Calling or emailing your congressional leaders is a simple and a sure way to increase their chances of supporting a bill which could save millions of lives. One such bill still waiting to be passed in the House of Representatives is the Global Food Security Act of 2013, which would improve nutrition and strengthen agriculture development in developing countries. Other similar legislation that could use your support includes the Food Aid Reform Act and Water for the World Act.

3. Limit Your Daily Intake

Over the past three decades, the average intake of dietary fats has dramatically increased in almost every country except Africa. With a recommended range from between 15 to 35 percent, we are seeing a stark contrast in dietary intake. In fact, many countries in North America and Western Europe exceeded this recommended daily intake, while countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia fell dramatically below.

Despite our growing intake, we are quickly running out of natural resources. In an overpopulated world, it is up to each of us to individually be cognizant of our daily intake. By limiting our intake in richer countries, we are ensuring that our world is capable of growing enough food in the first place for all of our global citizens.

By helping others who suffer from malnutrition, we are also helping ourselves in return. The most common causes of death around the world—including heart disease, obesity, cancer and chronic illness—can be a result of unhealthy eating habits.

By remaining aware that we have a much larger role in helping to end global hunger and poverty than we may believe, we can help put an end to millions of those going to sleep hungry at night.

– Nick Magnanti

Sources: CNN, Borgen Project, McCollum House, Food for the Poor, Green Facts, Green Facts 2
Photo: Action ContrelAfaim

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What is the MMR Vaccine?

mmr vaccine
Measles, mumps and rubella are all viral diseases that can interrupt the development of children and adolescents. Accessing reliable information about the MMR vaccine is the most cost-effective method to increasing its uptake.

The MMR vaccine is recommended in childhood. The three-in-one vaccine is necessary for most children to enter school and can be given as early as 11-15 months, and children should get two doses. In addition, adults born after 1956 or 18 years or older should also receive one dose of the vaccination unless they have already had all three diseases.

The MMR vaccine can be given at the same time as other vaccines. Young children (under 12 years) can get a combination of vaccines known as the MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox).

Upon receiving the vaccination, there are some risks involved, but most people who receive the vaccine do not develop any problems.

Mild issues can occur 6-14 days after receiving the vaccine and can include any of the following: fevers, mild rashes, and swelling of cheek/neck glands. Moderate issues can range from: seizures, stiffness/ pain in joints, temporary low platelet count that leads to a bleeding disorder (1 in every 30,000 doses). Some severe and very rare problems are: serious allergic reaction (1 in every million doses), deafness, permanent brain damage, and long-term seizures/comas. There is no evidence that the vaccine causes childhood autism.

All of these listed risks are small however, in comparison with the risks of contracting measles: severe illness, hospitalization and death. The vaccine itself has brought huge leaps in early childhood disease prevention, providing vaccination to over 500 million people worldwide in over 100 countries. Before the vaccine, mumps was the most common cause of viral meningitis in children and rubella caused terrible damage to unborn babies.

Now, both mumps and rubella are virtually non-existent in children.

The Measles Outbreak

With concern to the current measles outbreak of 2014, two doses are recommended because 2-5 percent of vaccinated people do not respond to their first dose. More than 99 percent of people develop immunity after
the second dose.

Out of the 593 confirmed cases of measles, very few were from people who had been vaccinated twice.

The virus itself can stay in the air for two hours after a person with measles symptoms have left the area and is spread by respiratory droplets. The people infected are contagious four days before and after receiving the rash.

International Outbreak

In the third world countries of the world, measles outbreaks have been spreading more freely, with thousands of cases. In the Philippines, there were 50,000 registered cases and 77 deaths. In Vietnam, there are at least
8,700 cases with 112 deaths in children. In Pakistan, over 30,000 people have caught measles and 290 people have died, with the number increasing daily for children alone. The effect of measles has been spreading due to a lack of proper vaccination, more vulnerable immune systems and misinformation (MMR vaccine may produce autism).

In Africa, the number of measles-related deaths have decreased by 91 percent due to a surge in immunization. However, cases have still been growing, a number well into the thousands.

The potential benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks. Parents should understand that the MMR vaccine is the best way to protect their children from these diseases, especially if traveling to an affected area, or the family resides in an affected area.

– Ashley Riley

Sources: About, About 2, CDC, CDC 2
Photo: Medimoon

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Economic Growth: Will a Rising Tide Lift All Boats?

Developing countries around the world face the tremendous challenge of promoting sustainable growth while also reducing poverty and increasing the living standards of their populations.

Around the world, conventional wisdom holds that by focusing development policy on economic growth, inequality will be reduced and incomes of every segment of society will increase–a rising tide lifts all boats.

While poverty has been reduced dramatically all around the world (700 million fewer people live in conditions of extreme poverty in 2010 than in 1990), big challenges still exist to further reducing this number. One of these challenges is rising inequality within and between nations.

Listed below are three reasons why income inequality must be addressed in both the developed and developing world in order to ensure long-term economic growth benefits for everyone and not just a select few.

1. Economic growth is not always equal

China, one of the countries where poverty reduction has been dramatic, is astoundingly tolerant of large gaps in inequality in exchange for growth. Deng Xiaoping, a top Communist Party leader from 1978 to 1992 who initiated economic reforms, is thought to have acknowledged, “It is good for some people to get rich first.”

While this may be true in some cases or at the beginning of market reforms, recent studies undertaken in Indonesia, South Africa, India and China reveal an increase in the gap between the rich and poor. This gap in income inequality can not only prevent further reduction in poverty, but it also has long term implications in the ability of large parts of the population of each country to be able to contribute to the country’s economy and growth.

2. Education, health, and job creation policies must be pursued simultaneously with growth policies

In order for a country’s population to contribute to and participate in the country’s economy, individuals must have the skills. Pursuing policies only focused on increasing GDP may improve growth outlook in the short run. However, in the long run, without education initiatives to match, a large segment of the population will remain poor.

In the 1990s, Brazil pursued a pro-equity growth policy in which it provided grants to help boost education. Average years of school for the poor shot up and when growth hit; they too were able to take advantage of the better jobs.

Just as an overall boost in education and health is important, so is robust job creation. People must have the opportunity to input the skills they have learned back into the economy.

For this reason, inequality cannot be solved without government involvement. The market left as is does not ensure that growth is shared equally. A combination of strong government programs and a strong private sector ensures better opportunities for more people.

3. Positive GDP growth can hide underlying inequality

The main measure of inequality within a given country is through the gini coefficient. The gini coefficient is a variable that measures how equal a country’s income is with zero representing an instance where everyone’s income is exactly equal, and one representing an instance in which one person has all of the income and the rest have none.

In South Africa, while the government is vocally committed to fighting poverty and inequality, between 2003 and 2008 overall income inequality increased. During this period, South Africa’s gini coefficient rose from an already high .66 to .70 – one of the highest in the world. So despite an average GDP growth rate of 3.2 percent (1994-2012), steps still need to be taken to ensure that the bottom segment of society is able to contribute and benefit from that growth.

Today, nearly 80 percent of humanity lives on less than $10 per day and over 3 billion live on less than $2.50. High levels of inequality exacerbate problems of poverty and reduce opportunities for the poor to move beyond their circumstances. Fewer opportunities for children to rise up economically means that inequality becomes more exaggerated over time and can affect the social structure of a country – leading to unrest, crime and violence.

Developed and developing countries alike all face the challenge of reducing their gini coefficient while also promoting growth. While each country faces unique challenges, this is one problem that can benefit from collaboration at the international level. From the information above, it becomes clear that poverty cannot be fully eliminated without measures in place that simultaneously address income inequality.

– Andrea Blinkhorn

Sources: Science Mag, Global Issues, Global Issues 2, Politics of Poverty, United Nations, South Africa, Hvistendahl, M. (2014). While emerging economies boom, equality goes bust. Science,344(6186), 832-835.
Photo: PBS

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Get Out and Play: Sports and Child Development

Playing is fun! The importance of play goes beyond simply passing time or seeking health benefits. A study completed by scientist Jaak Panksepp supports the pre-existing hypothesis that play is critical to child development.

Panksepp, along with others in the scientific community, theorizes that humans, as social animals, need play to learn social rules and cues. Through sports, people form communication skills, learn cooperation and leadership and come to better understand others.

To test this idea, Panksepp experimented with rats. He isolated one group so they could not play, while allowing another group to play. When both groups were placed in the same cage, the rats that received more stimulation were better able to interact and mate than the rats that were not allowed to play.

A comparable study done on kittens by a different group of scientists observed similar results. The young cats that were unable to play failed to acquire certain social skills. And although the kittens that were deprived of play could still hunt well, they were more aggressive and had trouble fitting in socially with other cats.

Lack of play, especially at a young age, proves to be a serious problem. Panksepp concluded that, with play, both humans and animals learn to live in social groups, build relationships, express emotions and master skills that do not come instinctively.

The importance of play for child development cannot be understated, according to Panksepp and many others concerned with the health and well being of young people.

The U.N. and UNICEF hold play as a fundamental right for every child, and protect that right under Article 31 of the Convention of Right of the Child. Sport and recreation are essential components of a child’s education, allowing children to gain confidence and lead healthier, more balanced lives.

Unfortunately, children living in poverty and areas of conflict are the most deprived of play.

Children are denied their rights when they are forced to work at a young age. In an effort to support their families, poor children drop out of school and work long and hard jobs. Across the world, there are over 168 million child laborers. Laboring like adults prevents them from playing and gaining the important life skills that come with play.

War and violence also keep children from play. Those in conflict zones live in constant fear and cannot run and have fun outside. With current conflicts raging in Gaza, Iraq and Syria, to name a few, the impact of war on children’s lives today is extensive and pervasive.

Without play, children living in poverty and conflict are denied essential interactions. Childhood is a critical period to set the foundations for healthy development, and play acts as an important component to this growth. The study completed by Panksepp suggests that the conditions experienced by children in poverty and conflict can have long-term negative consequences on their development.

– Kathleen Egan

Sources: NPR, UNICEF, International Labor Organization
Photo: UNICEF