A recent U.S. News and World Report article offers yet another source of motivation in the fight against poverty. A new study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry has found that having a warm, loving mother might counterbalance the adverse health effects of poverty.

According to the article, many studies have been conducted linking poverty to a heightened chance of mental and physical illness. Most study authors assume that this link is related to material deprivations and stress associated with a lower socioeconomic lifestyle.

The study analyzed the immune systems of 53 people (aged 25 to 40) who were raised in poor families during the first five years of their lives.  According to the article, “The 26 adults who described their mothers as warm and loving had lower gene expression in genes that promote inflammation than those with more distant moms.”  Inflammation is linked to asthma, depression and cardiovascular disease, among other diseases.

Sheila Smith, director of early childhood at the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University, said,

“Maternal warmth is a very important predictor of good outcomes, both short-term and long-term, for children…When I read that on top of all of that, it may help reduce rates of conditions such as cardiovascular disease, that makes me think we should be doing even more to help parents provide that type of support to young children.”

Importantly, U.S. News and World Report notes that the study does not take fathers, friends, neighbors and/or other influential adults into consideration.  Feel free to read more about this research and be sure to visit our web site to learn more about Here’s Life Inner City. As you may know, we assist children and families through our adult and youth development programs and through our compassionate products outreaches.

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