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The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) conducted a doctorate study on small children who grow up in families where the mother has high levels of stress or families which lack social support. Based on the results, these children are at a much higher risk for developing anxiety or depression during early adolescence. Children who display more shyness or are short-tempered are more vulnerable than children who are more outgoing and display less intensity during emotional reactions. Girls are also significantly more vulnerable than boys to develop emotional problems later in life.

The most common emotional/mental problems in children, teens, and young adults is anxiety and depression. 10-20% of all children and young adults will display enough symptoms for a diagnosis of anxiety or depression while growing up. “Research indicates that girls tend to churn over problems and events more than boys. In addition, early puberty in girls is thought to make them extra vulnerable to developing depressive symptoms,” says Evalill Karevold, who conducted the NIPH study.

Evalill Karevold followed more than 900 families with children the age of 18 months old through adolescence. The study was conducted by giving interviews and questionnaires on levels of anxiety and depression to the children and mothers. The children would report their feelings, while the mothers would report the symptoms of their children. The questionnaires and interviews were also given to the mothers to have them report their thoughts on the risk and protective factors of the family environment.

“A main finding highlights the importance of environmental factors for families with children less than 5 years of age. Maternal distress symptoms, family stress and lack of social support in their children’s growing-up environment in pre-school age leads to an increase in anxiety and depression symptoms when these children reach 12-13 years old. In addition, the results show that girls are more likely to develop emotional problems at 12-13 years of age than boys” (Science Daily).

On top of this, children who are naturally shy are also at a much higher risk to develop anxiety, which may last throughout their life (depression is also a risk factor). The risk for developing emotional problems later in life increases by three times as much for boys who are inactive, versus boys who are more active in their daily lives. For reasons unknown, this does not seem to be true for girls.

“The results indicate that there can be two central developmental paths to emotional problems in early adolescence. One path goes through the child’s temperament, especially temperamental emotionality (tendency to react quickly and intensely). A different course goes through the environmental factors that are present when the children are at pre-school age” (Science Daily).

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Photo compliments of BBC News.

A Havard University team believes that menthol is added to cigarettes to make the tobacco smoke less harsh, which gives new smokers more nicotine. Apparently, U.S. firms led tests to determine which age groups found menthol more appealing than regular cigarettes.

A “leading tobacco firm” denied these accusations that tobacco firms are product targeting, however, anti-smoking groups are not buying it. However, they have confirmed this menthol product targeting has not yet occurred in the UK.

A study, which consisted of a survey of U.S. smokers in 2006 found that significantly more teenagers and young adults preferred menthol cigarettes over non-menthols. 43.8% of smokers between 12 and 17 years of age and 35.6% of smokers between the ages of 18 and 24 year all reported smoking menthol cigarettes. This study was published in the American Journal of Public Health in 2006.

According to Professor Howard Koh of Harvard University, “For decades, the tobacco industry has carefully manipulated menthol content not only to lure youth but also to lock in lifelong adult customers” (BBC News).

A spokesman for Phillip Morris USA, the manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes, denied these accusations. He is quoted saying, “We disagree with the authors’ conclusion that menthol levels in our products were manipulated to gain market share among adolescents - and are unable to find evidence supporting that conclusion within the study. The company’s various brands, including our menthol brands, are designed to meet the diverse taste preferences of adults who smoke.”

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Above Photos © Allison Stone, 2008. Schoolchildren located near Samburu, Kenya. Taken in 2006.

This report is so horrific, heinous, and saddening that I can’t even express my emotions in words. Please note this post contains disturbing descriptions from the Associated Press and is not for the feint hearted.

Dozens of scared children filed silently into the bare room, their eyes on the cracks in the floor. One by one, in low voices, they told of being tortured by the Kenyan army because they were suspected of aiding rebels. They told of being beaten and made to shake hands with corpses. They told of being forced to crawl through barbed wire tunnels and of genitals squeezed by pliers. Then the children took off their shirts. White scars crisscrossed the dark skin on their backs like grains of rice. Some were still bleeding.

These children are among hundreds in western Kenya who have been terrorized, many twice over, first by a militia in their villages and then by the army sent to fight it. The militia forced children as young as 10 to become soldiers. In a widespread crackdown, the army then rounded up the children and thousands of adults and tortured them, human rights groups say.

In March, the Kenyan government sent its army to crack down on the Sabaot Land Defense Force militia, which is named after the Sabaot region. But instead of hunting down militia fighters where they hide in the forests of Mount Elgon, the army swept up thousands of men and boys from the surrounding villages.

Since then, so many reports of murder and torture have emerged that Kenya’s state-run human rights commission is calling for the prosecution of the defense minister and top army and police officials.

It only gets worse. The militia thrived in the dense forests in Mount Elgon, where an estimated 160,000 people are living in very poor conditions. These families are given horrific choices: pay $50,000 Kenyan shillings ($830) - impossible for almost every family- give up their son, or die. Katharine Houreld reports:

One 15-year-old joined last year to protect his family after the militia killed his uncle.

“They shot him in front of me,” the boy said. “He was begging for his life on his knees.”

He spent two months in the forests and learned to shoot alongside eight other children. He saw a boy forced to kill his own father. He fled with a 10-year-old when the militia began producing victims for reluctant recruits to kill.

Some children simply disappeared. One 17-year-old girl was abducted by four men armed with machetes on her way back from school. Her father dared go to their forest hideout and ask after his missing daughter, who sang in the school choir and dreamed of being a doctor.

“They threatened to slaughter me if I took it further,” he said, his voice suddenly raw. “I could not protect her.”

These families can’t do anything to protect their children. They have to live every single day in immense fear that they won’t see their sons or daughters again. A year and a half ago, 650 children were reported missing from a “partial survey” of schools.

These disgusting individuals who torture these children have absolutely no value for human life. The most heartbreaking part of this report is that it doesn’t shock me one bit. There are so many cultures in the world where people really don’t value human life and have no guilt, shame, remorse, or pain from torturing and massacring people. It’s disgusting and disturbing and I wish the UN and the Super Powers of the world, such as the US, would do more. I wish threy would spend less time fighting wars over oil, power, and money and would fight for peoples lives and humanity in the poorest of the poor countries.

Photo © Allison Stone, 2008. Schoolchildren located near Samburu, Kenya. Taken in 2006.

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