This is something I did for homework about one year ago. I thought it might interest someone. It’s about the lives of two girls – one living in a developing country and the other living in the UK.

The health of a young child depends upon several things. These include: diet, health care and the environment in which they are raised. For children born in a LEDC, life is much more difficult than it is for children born in a MEDC, such as here in the UK.

An LEDC is a ‘less economically developed country,’ and an MEDC is a ‘more economically developed country’. An LEDC can basically be classed as a developing (poor) country, and an MEDC is just a developed (rich) country.

In a developing country people are generally poor and they live in a squatter settlement or a shanty town. Shanty houses are built out of anything people can find, Mainly rubbish from the nearest city. They normally start with 1 room for the whole family and are later separated to form a bedroom. These houses are built very close together so are vulnerable to fires as there is no water source to extinguish them. Disease is another killer because it can spread at a high rate.

Elizabeth was born in a squatter settlement in Peru’s capital of Lima. She is the eighth child for the family. She was born weighing only 2500 grams. Elizabeth’s mother is ill in the first week of her life and is unable to feed her child, therefore, Elizabeth is given powdered milk. Powdered milk is expensive and takes a quarter of the wage so it has to be watered down. The water is dirty but there is no electricity in the shanty house to boil it. Another way of boiling water is with a fire, however Elizabeth’s mother is too ill to collect wood so there is no fire. At 7 months old Elizabeth gets very bad diarrhoea. She is taken off the milk and given aniseed water and sugar water. She weights only 3600 grams.

In a developed country things are very different. There are hospitals with trained doctors and nurses to provide good health care. People live in a clean, comfortable houses with central heating. We have clean hot and cold running water. Houses usually have two floors and contain two or three bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, sitting room and Dining room as well as a garden. Fire and Disease are not a major issue as there is an organized fire service and children are vaccinated against most major diseases.

Jennifer was born in a Hospital in London. She is the second child for the family weighing 4100 grams. Jennifer has regular visits to the clinic and health visitor to check hearing, sight and growth. This is probably the main difference between LEDC’s and MEDC’s as poorer countries don’t have many hospitals and clinics for people to go to for free. She is also vaccinated against polio and whooping cough.

Powdered milk takes a quarter of Elizabeth’s family’s wage. Therefore they have only a few pounds for the whole family. This could be per week or even for a whole month. Where is the rest of the family? Elizabeth is the eighth child for the family, however, it is likely that most of the other children have died. LEDC’s have a high infant mortality rate. Infant Mortality is the amount of children that die before the age of one year old.

At the age of five months, Jennifer becomes very hot and bad tempered. She will not eat or drink. The doctor sends her to hospital where she is kept for tests and given antibiotics. She recovers within five days. Although she is ill and will not eat, Jennifer still gains weight. Her mass is now 6200 grams.

In Peru, Elizabeth also is ill at the age of seven months. She has a extremely bad diarrhoea. One month later she is constantly being sick so she is given tea and water. The water is dirty and causing her to be ill, but she is still given it because there is nothing else. Because of the poor medical care in LEDC’s, Elizabeth looses weight while she is sick and now weights only 3500 grams.

At nine months Jennifer starts to crawl and stand up. She weighs 9000 grams. Two months after, she starts to walk. Jennifer is in good health and weights 10,000 grams.

Family’s living in LEDC’s often have lots of children. This is mainly based on infant Mortality. The parents know that their children are likely to die. They also want someone to look after them when they older as, unlike England and other MEDC’s, there isn’t anywhere old people can go to be looked after and cared for.

Elizabeth is now eleven months old. Her Diarrhoea and sickness worsens and there is no one to look after her as her mother is also ill and the rest of the family aren’t there. She has not eaten for two weeks and weighs only 3000 grams. She is taken to a Clinic. She has breathing problems and needs a blood transfusion. Elizabeth dies two days later!

The reason Elizabeth died and Jennifer didn’t is because of the difference in the environment around them. Elizabeth had a sick mother and no hospital with trained doctors and nurses in. She was given dirty water in an unclean place. While Jennifer was born in a hospital with the support and care she needed.

I know it’s not the happiest of things I could have posted and it has absolutely nothing to do with technology, however it does make you think…

Tags: 3rd world, care, children, developed, developing, education, hospitality, medical

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