Level of Affection Given to a Baby Physically Affects their DNA

When a mother holds her child, she never thinks of why she is doing so. It’s like an instinct. But in this world, not knowing the reason for doing something could lead to disaster.

Namely, a person may be aware that something is important, but if there isn’t any scientific evidence for the reason why it is important, their judgment may be framed-up by authorities who are trying to use their influence over people’s lives.

Thanks to the science, there are more and more facts and evidences that prove babies’ DNA to be affected by getting more or less affection. Evidence like that could be cited in court cases.

For decades researchers have been quantifying how touch is vital for children’s healthy development. The most recent study from the University of British Columbia and BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute examined around 100 babies over the course of 4 years. They asked parents of five week old babies to keep a journal of their behavior, like sleeping, feeding, crying etc. They requested that parents write down everything that they do with their children like how frequently they gave them physical contact or how often they held their children.

When the children were nearly five years old, the scientists took DNA samples from them. They compared the DNA from the children who received a lot of affection and those who were given less. There was one huge difference between both DNAs: the ones who were given less touch and affection had less mature cells: stunted growth.

Miami Herald states that the scientists have examined a process known as DNA methylation. Each body cell contains structures known as chromosomes in which there are the genetic codes of the person. These codes establish things such as sex, physical appearance and the way the body works and grows.

In DNA methylation, there are parts of the chromosome that are “tagged” with molecules which are able to control how active a person is. Scientists are able to predict the way this should go as we grow older.

In other words, the scientists discovered that the high-affection children had cells that were much more mature than those of the low-affection children. This could result in long lasting consequences in growth and development of the children.

The scientists will continue with their research until they find out whether the “biological immaturity” found in children results in numerous consequences in their health and their psychological development. If the further research proves this primary finding, it will emphasize how important it is for the child to be provided with physical contact and affection.

I think that, there are several things that the parents have the right to decide on their own and that there is no need of such analysis on the way they are raising their children when everything is peaceful.

Sometimes Child Protective Services (CPS) overreact to some decisions that parents make and take the children away from parents when there is no real need for that. Somebody should inform them of this research.

For example, when CPS takes a child away from parents who’ve decided not to vaccinate it, the court should know about this research providing evidence that the child who is left without the affection and connection to their parents suffers from emotional and physical damage.

This research should be spread all over the world!

Miami Herald had something to say about some past researches that back up this study:
“In the 1950s the American psychologist Harry Harlow made one of the most well-known studies on this topic. He examined the behavior of rhesus monkeys. Harold took the monkeys away from their real mothers and gave them to choose either a cold, wire lookalike mother or a mother that looks totally different than them – covered in soft cloth. The monkeys wanted to spend time with the comforting cloth mother more than with the cold, wire lookalike mother. After that, Harlow placed all the monkeys with the cold, wire mother and he noticed severe abnormalities in their behavior – and their state didn’t change even when they were introduced to more comforting environments later.

Another study has discovered similar behavior in humans. They examined children who were raised in orphanages and found out that the stress hormone cortisol was higher in these children than in children who grew up in traditional nurturing environments. It was also proven that infants who lacked the touch of their parents had abnormal levels of hormones responsible for social behavior.”