The proportion of children with allergies or dental problems is more than 10 times higher in families on welfare than in those not receiving benefits, a recent university study showed.
Stress, house dust and a lack of supervision with no one around to guide children were seen as contributory factors according to the study conducted by Naoki Kondo, associate professor of social epidemiology at the University of Tokyo, and his team.
The study covered 573 boys and girls under the age of 15 in households receiving welfare benefits in 2016 in two municipalities in Japan. For comparison, the team looked at overall data on children around the same age compiled in a health ministry survey.