Frequent Moving Affects Children’s Health

The children, who are forced to move with their parents, frequently changing their place of residence, may face a greater risk of diseases in the long run.

The study was conducted in Scotland, and its results were published in “Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health“. The research involved 850 people aged 15, 35, and 55 years. Their habits, health indicators and lifestyles had been studied during 20 years. One in five people, who participated in the study, had lived in the same place during the childhood, 59% had moved once or twice, and about 21% had moved at least three times. Children in single-parent families or living with a stepfather were proved to move across the country or the world more often than others. The families with two or three children were also more likely to move than families with four or more children.

In general, those who had moved more often than others, demonstrated health problems, they were weaker than their peers, and got sick more often. They also had frequent psychological stress, drinking and smoking problems in the adolescent age and later, when these children became adults.