Foster care children are at greater risk of mental, physical health problems

Washington D.C.: The children, who are brought up under foster care system, are at a significantly higher risk of mental and physical health problems - ranging from learning disabilities, developmental delays and depression to behavioral issues, asthma and obesity, suggests a recent research.

Co-author of the study, Kristin Turney, said: "No previous research has considered how the mental and physical well-being of children who have spent time in foster care compares to that of children in the general population."

Adding, "This work makes an important contribution to the research community by showing for the first time that foster care children are in considerably worse health than other children. Our findings also present serious implications for pediatricians by suggesting that foster care placement is a risk factor for health problems in childhood."

The large-scale study is the first to offer health comparisons based on a nationally representative sample of U.S. children. The team analyzed data from the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children's Health.

Of more than 9,00,000 kids included in the survey, 1.3 percent were identified as having been in foster care. They were compared to children who hadn't spent time in foster care and those who had been adopted from foster care and those living in a variety of family arrangements including single-mother and economically disadvantaged households.

Using logistic regression models, the researchers found that kids who'd been in foster care were:

Seven times as likely to experience depression

Six times as likely to exhibit behavioral problems

Five times as likely to feel anxiety

Three times as likely to have attention deficit disorder, hearing impairments and vision issues

Twice as likely to suffer from learning disabilities, developmental delays, asthma, obesity and speech problems.

"This is typically a difficult-to-reach population, so having access to descriptive statistics on their living arrangements, physical well-being and behavior provided an excellent opportunity to help identify the health challenges they face," Turney said.

"This study expands our understanding of the mental and physical health of these highly vulnerable children, but we must take a closer look if we are to understand how foster care really affects child well-being," she concluded. The study was published in Pediatrics journal.