According to a recent study featured on Science Daily, a chaotic household may negatively affect children’s health.

Claire Kamp Dush of Ohio State University and her team of researchers analyzed data on a total of 3,288 unmarried and low-income mothers from a previous Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study. The information was then classified under measures of household chaos: “crowding (more than one person per room), TV background noise (TV was on more than five hours a day), lack of regular bedtime for the child, and a home rated as noisy, unclean and cluttered by the interviewer.”

The results showed that three-year-olds who lived in households with high levels of chaos and whose mothers who also had hectic work schedules or environments had lower health levels at age five than most. The primary agent of chaos at home was the television, especially if it stayed on for more than five hours.

However, the researchers explain that mothers and fathers are not entirely at fault for such situations. What parents can do is to try their best to maintain not just a clean and a quiet home, but also a routine which children can follow. Even with jobs that require shifting hours, setting certain times when kids should eat, study, play, and sleep may help them maintain order. Managing a healthy household may lessen the stress of those who live there, lowering the risk of physical and emotional issues.

(Photo by Serene Vannoy via Flickr Creative Commons)