Parent Emigration, Physical Health and Related Risk and Preventive Factors of Children Left Behind: A Systematic Review of Literature

Abstract

The aim of our study was to systematically review the literature on physical health and related consequences of internal and international parental migration on left-behind children (LBC). This review followed PRISMA guidelines. We searched the PubMed, Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, PsycINFO, and Cochrane databases and included studies reporting physical health-related outcomes of children affected by parental migration. The quality of the studies was assessed using the Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies. We selected 34 publications from a total of 6061 search results. The study found that LBC suffer from poor physical health as compared with non-LBC. Physical health-related risk factors such as underweight, lower weight, stunted growth, unhealthy food preferences, lower physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, injuries, and incomplete vaccination tend to be more prevalent among LBC in China. Studies focussing on international migration argue that having migrant parents might be preventive for undernutrition. Overall, our study showed that children affected by internal or international migration tend to have similar physical health outcomes. Moreover, we identified a lack of evidence on international parental migration that may have influenced the overall impacts. Further studies addressing international migration would contribute to better understand the impacts of migration for LBC.

Parental migration and left-behind children in Georgia – school teachers’ experience and perception: a qualitative study

“…In the literature, growing-up with absent parents is referred to as transnational childhood [ 56 ]. Congruent with our findings, several systematic literature reviews suggest the following health issues to be prevalent among LBC: sadness, worries, anxiety, depression, loneliness, poor nutrition [ 9 , 10 , 24 , 57 , 58 ]. Separation and stress are also reflected in studies on LBC from Kyrgyzstan [ 59 ], from Sri Lanka [ 60 ], and from the Philippines [ 61 ].…”

“…In literature, families divided across borders are called transnational families, while the notion itself is called transnationalism [6][7][8]. Left-behind children (LBC) is the term commonly used to address the left children of both, internal and international migrant workers [9][10][11]. Another term increasingly used in transnational family literature is staying behind children [12][13][14][15].…”

“…In Georgia, more than 57% of migrants are female and almost 39% of all children are affected by migratory separation, which is the highest percentage in the Eastern-European region [4,5]. Furthermore, recent studies suggest that children affected by migratory separation are at increased risk of developing physical and mental health disorders [10,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. The number of Georgian children with mental and behavioural disorders increased four-times between 2013 and 2019 (from 1.1 to 4.4 per 100,000 children) [33].…”

Suicidality and Its Associated Factors Among Students in Rural China During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparative Study of Left-Behind and Non-Left-Behind Children

“…The majority of rural migrant workers have to leave their children living in their hometown due to the high cost of living in urban cities and huge barriers to education and healthcare, resulting in the “left-behind children” phenomenon. Based on the available literature, left-behind children (LBC) are those aged 18 or below who continue to live in their hometown when one or both parents migrate to cities for work for at least 6 months ( 21 , 22 ). According to a national survey conducted by the China Women's Federation in 2013, more than 60 million children in rural China are left behind, accounting for more than one-third of rural Chinese children and more than one-fifth of the entire population of children in China.…”

Mother's and Father's Migrating in China: Differing Relations to Mental Health and Risk Behaviors Among Left-Behind Children

“…Similarly, the evidence of these behavioral risks varied in different migrant parents. For instance, a recent literature review generalized that BLBC were more likely than those left behind by one or neither parent to engage in smoking and drinking (26). Still, other research suggested that both BLBC and MLBC had a more increased likelihood of smoking than NLBC (27).…”