If ever you think most American children have it easy, with nary a responsibility other than going to school, doing their homework, and being home on time for a well-cooked meal by mom (or dad), think again. There is a whole population of kids who have serious jobs, starting with taking care of their own family members.
In fact, more than 1.3 million American children and teens care for family members with physical or mental illness or substance abuse problems, and these children are at risk for poor health and school failure themselves, a new study shows, as reported by WebMd.
This young caregivers suffer from physical and emotional stressdue to their caregiving duties, wrote study author Dr. Julia Belkowitz, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
She and her colleagues studied youth caregivers in Palm Beach County, Fla. Their median age was 12, and 63 percent were girls while 37 percent were boys, reports WebMd.
The children said they spent a median of two youth caregivers spent 1.5 hours a day on weekdays and 2.75 hours a day on weekends doing caregiver tashours each school day.
Their tasks included helping family members with gektting around, eating, dressing, bathing, using the toilet, and continence care. The youth caregivers also kept the family members company and offered emotional support, gave medications, translated during medical visits, handled medical equipment at home, cleaned the house and did grocery shopping.
The study was presented recently at an American Academy of Pediatrics meeting in San Diego.
