Parenting Vs. Public Policies: Which Is More Influential In Childhood Cognitive Development?

The environmental factors play the most important part in a child's mental health. Parenthood and living arrangements determine the cognition of a child. At the growing phase, a child is extremely open and receptive to his or her environment that is why it is observed that children are far better than learning new languages than most adults.

According to Eureka Alert, a study was conducted by North Carolina University in which sociologists contrasted the cognitive abilities of the children in the United states and the United Kingdom. The results showed that parenting was equally important in their academic achievements, however, there was a difference. It was deduced that children living with single mothers and in larger families in the U.S. had low cognitive abilities but not in the U.K.

The objective of the study was to assess the impact of Great Britain's policies of cooperating with the citizens in terms of financial support and the results were actually in favor of a welfare state. Parents who were single or supporting a large family still remained able to provide all the necessities with the help of the government allowance.

The report also added that there were areas where the results were similar. For example, researchers found that both nations have limitations when it comes to health-related areas and verbal development in large families. 

As reported by Heritage, the U.S. government is considering to propose a children nutrition bill, in which school meals should be a compulsion for every kid regardless of their parents' income. The bill also aims to support the hunger-free kids act. The bill will also highlight the fact that balanced diets are vital role players in kids' mental growth and functionality.

Unfortunately, these initiatives are still met with mixed reviews. Analysts claim that these kinds of bills have not always proved to be as advantageous as it promises to be. People should keep in mind that Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which distributes meals to the kids with low family income, is met with a lot of criticism and organizations are asking to shut it down.