Angrier than usual (illustration)
Photo: Index Open
International study: Israeli kids irritable
Recent World Health Organization report shows Israeli children exhibit more signs of stress, anger than kids worldwide
A recent study by the World Health Organization (WHO) showed that Israeli children are more irritable and experience more anger than other children around the world.
The study also indicated that a higher percentage of Israeli school children suffer from headaches, stomach aches and back pain, as well as from an array of stress symptoms the likes of irritability and feelings of helplessness.
Stressed
Sharon Roffe-Ofir
Psychological studies find thousands of children still traumatized by Second Lebanon War; two years later, they fear school bells, news reports, terror attack reports. Afula Medical Center struggles to make parents aware of anxiety disorders
The WHO study was conducted among 207,703 students worldwide, and included 6,613 sixth, eighth and 10th graders in Israel.
Israel ranked No. 1 out of 41 in the list of countries whose 10 graders exhibit physical stress symptoms, with 36% of the boys and 53% of the girls reporting such symptoms.
Coming in second was Malta, with 38% of the boys and 51% of the girls manifesting physical stress symptoms and rounding up the top three was the United States (33% of the boys and 55% of the girls).
Israel ranked third when in comes to children exhibiting signs of anger, as 28% of boys and 26% of girls in the sixth graders reported that they were angry, irritable and "in a bad mood" in class nearly every day.
Topping the list was Turkey (38% of the boys and 30% of the girls), with Slovakia (26% of the boys and 30% of the girls) coming in second.
Dr. Yossi Harel of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the Bar-Ilan University, who serves as the WHO's chief researcher in Israel, said the report's concerning results stem form the fact that many children have trouble finding the emotional support they need form the authority figures in their lives, such as parents, teachers and counselors.
