Orphans are more likely to thrive in foster care than in orphanages, according to a new study from the University of Minnesota.

• Dr. Dana Johnson and his colleagues studied 136 babies in Romanian orphanages. The average age of the children was 21 months.
  
• Half the children stayed in the orphanages, where they got very little individual attention but adequate food, the other half were placed in foster care.
  
• Dr. Johnson's team assessed both groups of orphans on a regular basis starting in 1999.
• The children in foster care increased their heights and weights, as well as their IQs.
  
• After one year, all were in the normal range for height and 90 percent were normal for weight, although the children in the orphanages were behind in both measurements.
  

"Psychosocial stimulus interacts with the physiological system," said Prof. Nathan Fox, a member of the research team. "It increases the production of growth hormone and reduces stress. Providing adequate psychosocial stimulus is necessary for growth."

This study appeared in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

Labels: orphans, orphanages, foster care

Posted By: Aspen/CRC