children s health issues
Overview of Child Neglect and Abuse
Introduction
Child maltreatment includes all types of abuse and neglect of a child under the age of 18 by a parent, caregiver, or another person in a custodial role (for example, clergy, coach, or teacher) that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child.Child neglectis the failure to meet a child’s basic physical and emotional needs.Child abuseis doing harmful things to a child. Some factors that increase the risk of child neglect and abuse are parents who are young or single-parenting, have experienced child abuse or neglect themselves, or have personal or family stress (such as food insecurity, financial stress, intimate partner violence, social isolation, mental health issues, or a substance use disorder). Children who are neglected or abused may appear tired or hungry, have poor hygiene, or have physical injuries or emotional or mental health issues, or they may have no obvious signs of abuse or neglect. Abuse should be suspected when a pattern of new and previous injuries suggests that the injury was not accidental, when injuries do not match the caregiver's explanation, or when children are not developmentally able to do things that could result in their injury (such as an infant turning on a stove). Children should be protected from further harm by means that may include involvement of Child Protective Services and/or law enforcement agencies, hospitalization, counseling for caregivers and children, and assistance for the family in providing safe and appropriate care. Neglect involves not meeting children's basic needs: physical, medical, educational, and emotional. Abuse can be Physical abuse , Child neglect and abuse often occur together and with other forms of family violence, such as intimate partner abuse. In addition to immediate harm, neglect and abuse increase the risk of long-lasting problems, including mental health problems and substance use disorders. Child abuse is also associated with problems in adulthood such as Obesity , heart disease, and Children may be neglected or abused by parents and other caregivers or relatives, people living in the child's home, or people who have occasional care responsibilities (such as teachers, coaches, and clergy). In 2020, 3.9 million reports of possible child abuse were made to Child Protective Services (CPS) in the United States, involving 7.1 million children. Of these reports, about 2.1 million were investigated in detail, and about 618,000 abused or neglected children were identified. Girls are slightly more likely to be maltreated than boys. Infants and young children are at increased risk of abuse. Of the children who were identified in 2020, 76.1% were neglected (including medical neglect), 16.5% were physically abused, 9.4% were sexually abused, and 0.2% were sex trafficked. However, many children were victims of multiple types of abuse. In 2020, about 1,750 children in the United States died of neglect or abuse, about half of whom were under 1 year of age. About 73% of these children were victims of neglect and 43% were victims of physical abuse that occurred with or without other forms of abuse. About 80% of perpetrators were parents acting alone, together, or with other people. 