‘Homeless’ Babies at Risk of Poor Health: Study

New York: Babies born to homeless women are more likely to have poor health and development outcomes, says a study. The findings showed that babies who experienced both pre- and post-natal homelessness and those who experienced homelessness for longer than six months were at a highest risk of negative health outcomes.

“These findings back up what we already knew about how the stress of homelessness affects children’s heath,” said Megan Sandel, paediatrician at Children’s HealthWatch, from the Boston Medical Centre (BMC) in the US.

The study shows that the earlier and the longer a child experiences homelessness may have a larger cumulative toll of poor health and development outcomes. It illustrates the urgent need to intervene and rapidly house children and families experiencing homelessness to minimise the negative health outcomes, the researchers said. (IANS)