The corona effects are noticeable within many population groups.
However, children and adolescents should be counted among the “biggest losers of the crisis”, as a doctor makes clear.
Munich - “Children and young people just don't have a lobby.
If they were smart, they would pool their pocket money and simply buy their own lobbyist. ”Christian Ehring, presenter of the ARD satirical magazine
Extra 3
, last
chose these words
in one of his programs.
Especially in times of the corona crisis, the youngest in society threaten to become the big losers.
Corona and children: "The quality of life has deteriorated further in the course of the pandemic"
First of all, children and adolescents are among the people who suffer the least damage to health from Covid-19.
In contrast to the known risk groups and the elderly population, at first glance they are less affected by the coronavirus - even if, according to current studies, they are more and more frequently infected with the coronavirus.
Worrying figures show that everything is by no means in order.
Experts are increasingly warning of the consequences beyond health.
According to a study by the University Clinic Hamburg-Eppendorf from February 2021, almost every child now suffers from mental disorders.
Worries and fears have increased again and depressive symptoms have also increased.
"The quality of life and the mental health of children and adolescents in Germany have continued to deteriorate in the course of the corona pandemic," says a statement by study director Ulrike Ravens-Sieberer.
Children from socially disadvantaged families are particularly affected by the effects of lockdown, homeschooling and the like.
Children in Corona times: more mobile phones, less exercise
The permanent sitting on top of each other in sometimes precarious housing conditions also increases the risk that children will become victims of violence in their own four walls.
According to the Charité's violence protection outpatient clinic, suspected cases of child abuse rose by 23 percent in the first half of 2020, after the first hard lockdown, compared to the previous year.
Current figures are not yet available.
Due to exit and contact restrictions, many children would also do less sport and instead spend more time in front of digital media.
As the addiction researcher Rainer Thomasius recently
explained
on
Deutschlandfunk
, children and adolescents spend an average of 75 percent more time in front of the screen than in pre-Corona times.
Five and a half hours during the week, and even more than seven on the weekend.
Spicy: Digital lessons are not even included here.
Corona and children: "They are the biggest losers in this crisis"
According to a study by the Munich Center for Nutritional Medicine, the lack of exercise also affects the health of children.
Nine percent would have gained weight in the course of the pandemic.
This would make secondary diseases more likely.
The current health care is already tense at the moment.
"We observe, for example, that children with chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma, epilepsy or heart problems receive less medical care during a crisis and that the burden of their illness increases," reports Dr.
Burkhard Rodeck, Secretary General of the German Society for Child and Adolescent Medicine, the
pharmacy Umschau
.
The Göttingen pediatrician Dr.
Tanja Brunnert from the professional association of paediatricians therefore comes
to a depressing conclusion
in the
Umschau pharmacy
: "Children are the biggest losers in this crisis - their needs have in some cases been completely ignored."
Corona: "Distance teaching is tough for everyone"
The lobby for children seems small.
Federal Minister for Family Affairs Franziska Giffey (SPD), who is also responsible for the youth qua office, seemed for a long time not to be able to make herself heard in Berlin.
In February she then spoke out aggressively in favor of a gradual opening of daycare centers and schools, since the consequences of the permanent lockdown for the little ones are "so serious." In addition, the SPD politician emphasized: "Child protection is also health protection."
At the time, Giffey clearly defended the school openings that were carried out in February, some of which have since been tipped again: "You can't leave the children at home much longer, because otherwise child protection and child welfare are at risk."
explained
with
Merkur.de
that she is seeing increasingly negative consequences of distance learning in her class - poor concentration, but also social skills.
Due to the lack of personal contact, the children would have forgotten qualities such as sharing or helpfulness.
“Certain values are lost there,” says the young teacher.
"Distance teaching gets down to business for everyone."
(As)
