This study is based on long-term monitoring conducted with more than 6000 people born in Great Britain during the same week of 1970. This observation work makes it possible to measure the evolution of their health and their professional career from childhood to adulthood. It offers a precious look at the long -term consequences of disorders experienced very early in life.
We learn that children suffering from serious mental or behavioral disorders have 85% risks in addition to making a depression at 51 years. They are also 68% more likely to live with a chronic disease that limits their ability to work. And these findings do not only concern mental disorders. Children who have suffered from chronic physical diseases also see their professional capacity decrease, with an increased risk of 38% in adulthood.
Added to this is another worrying reality. For four children developing a chronic pathology, a mother leaves the labor market. Often, it is to ensure a continuous presence, manage care and support the child on a daily basis, with tasks that are difficult to reconcile with a job, even in part -time. This professional withdrawal leads to an economic and social weakening of the home, with lasting repercussions throughout the family nucleus.
Public health policies to rethink
All these figures have an even more worrying dimension in a context where infant fragility multiply and become a major public health issue. In England, one in five children today has probable mental disorders, and one in four is in obesity. These are all alert signals for public services, already subject to Rude Evidence. “”Successive governments have never faced the long -term consequences of infantile health“, regrets Amy Gandon, health expert at the Public Policy Research Institute for Public Research and ex-responsible at the Ministry of Health, in a press release.
For the Institute for Public Policy Research, the time is for action. The Think Tank pleads for a massive investment in prevention, targeting young people from 14 to 19 years old who are about to enter working life. He recommends sanctuarize pediatric health expenses, create a specific budgetary standard for children and strengthen the prerogatives of the Children’s Commissioner, infant public health watch in England.
Recent measures suggest a desire for change, even if their scope remains discussed. The British government claims to have expanded access to mental health teams in schools for one million additional children. It also promises 680 million pounds of investment, the recruitment of 8,500 professionals and the establishment of 345,000 psychological therapy sessions, according to the Guardian. But on the ground, doubts persist.
For Olly Parker, head of public affairs within the NGO Youngminds, “the cost for a young person in psychic difficulty who does not receive the appropriate support is devastating, and the repercussions are felt on families, friends and the whole of the community”. An opinion shared by Dr. Jamie O’Halloran, co -author of the study. For him, this is a major issue. He insists that “it is not only a question of individual well-being, it is also an issue of long-term viability for our public systems”.
Basically, it is a choice of society. Treat children, not because they will cost dear tomorrow, but because they are entitled to a professional future. And finally recognize that prevention is not a luxury, but a necessity.