Citation

Sargent MG. Interdiscipl. Sci. Rev. 2007; 32(1): 11-26.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, Publisher Maney Publishing)

DOI

10.1179/030801807X163652

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The precariousness of childhood in the developing world is most visible when the media spotlight falls on famine, natural disaster or civil war, but it casts a permanent shadow over family life in that world, as it did in Europe a hundred years ago. Premature death, life-threatening sickness, irreversible stunting of growth and the loss of a mother in childbirth are some of the most tangible evils of underdevelopment. Although poverty contributes to this dismal situation, many individual contingencies are avoidable to a substantial extent if people can be drawn into primary health-care systems that encourage them to exchange detrimental customs for better ideas of managing hygiene and parenthood.