Health impacts of parental migration on left-behind children and adolescents in low- and middle-income countries
Citation Fellmeth G, Rose-Clarke K, Zhao C, et al. Health impacts of parental migration on left-behind children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet. 2018;392(10164):2567-82.
Language: Abstract available in EN. Full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: Wellcome Trust.
What is this? Parental migration impacts health systems and their ability to respond and adapt to population needs and patterns. Children who are left behind after parental migration may be exposed to health issues.
In this systematic review, the authors searched for studies of the effects on nutrition, mental health, unintentional injuries, infectious disease, substance use, unprotected sex, early pregnancy and abuse in children (aged up to 19 years) in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) who are left behind when a parent migrates for 6 or more months. They did not restrict their searches by date or language of publication and did the search on 5 September 2018. They included 111 studies, which were conducted in Asia, Africa, Caribbean, China, Eastern Europe, and Latin America (Mexico, Guatemala, and Peru).
What was found: Parental migration is detrimental to the health of left-behind children and adolescents in LMICs.
Left-behind children and adolescents in LMICs have worse outcomes than children of non-migrant parents, especially with regard to mental health and nutrition.
Children that were left behind in LMICs had an increased risk of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, substance abuse, wasting and stunting.
Left-behind children and adolescents in LMICs had no increased risk of conduct disorders, being overweight or obese, anaemia, unintentional injury, diarrhoea, or abuse.
Implications: The authors of the review concluded that the health risks experienced by children that are left behind after parental migration should be highlighted to policy makers and healthcare professionals in order to improve the health of this population. They also stated that further studies in a wider range of LMICs with high rates of migration are needed to better understand risk and resilience factors within this population.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of place of residence, personal characteristics associated with discrimination such as age or disability, and time-dependent relationships.
This summary was prepared by Ana Pizarro, edited by Jiewon Lim and Firas Khalid and finalized by Mike Clarke.
We’ve already reached tens of thousands of people with plain language summaries of systematic reviews. If you’d like to help us to continue our work, please consider a donation.
Donate with PayPal
You can also donate through the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) here. If you are based in the USA and want to make a tax-deductable donation, please donate to Evidence Aid via the British Schools and Universities Foundation.