The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was created in 1946 to help children in Europe suffering from famine and disease. Today, the official name is simply United Nations Children’s Fund, but the UNICEF acronym remains. Initially, UNICEF focused on providing children with food, healthcare, and clothing. In 1953, the UN General Assembly made UNICEF a permanent part of the UN. The organization then began campaigns to eliminate diseases like tuberculosis and leprosy. In 1959, the UN passed the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which guided UNICEF’s work. This was reinforced by the landmark Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1991. The main functions of UNICEF are concerned with health and nutrition, education, protection, advocacy, and policy. Recently, UNICEF has faced issues such as those due to the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing global conflicts, and climate-related disasters; all have disrupted education, healthcare access, and child protection systems worldwide.

Parentification is when children are forced to take on roles that should belong to a parent. Although certain responsibilities are important for children to learn, parentification is when there is a consistent role reversal where children take on tasks for which they are not developmentally ready. This can look different depending on the family. Some children become solely responsible for supporting the family financially, caring for younger siblings, or acting as a language translator. Others may be emotionally parentified, meaning they are expected to manage their parent’s emotions, such as stepping in during arguments. Parentification often develops in situations involving child neglect, parental loss, or a parent’s physical or mental disability. It can also result from parents migrating abroad for work, a situation often referred to as “children left behind.” Some of these children are placed with a caregiver, but others are left on their own. When children chronically take on inappropriate responsibilities, the consequences can follow them into adulthood. Parentification is linked to higher rates of depression and anxiety, increased risk of drug use and addiction, lower educational attainment, higher rates of unemployment later in life, and physical health problems. Therefore, addressing different forms of parentification is essential to protecting children’s long-term well-being.

Confirmation bias is a psychological phenomenon in which people look for evidence to support their beliefs or hypotheses. When children are labeled as too moody, too hyperactive, too delayed, or too sick, adults may look extra closely for problems. Sometimes, this can lead doctors to diagnose diseases that are not there. For example, a child with mild stress could be diagnosed with anxiety. They might be placed on long-term medication, which may have side effects, but symptoms may have improved without intensive intervention. In other cases, a mild illness may be treated with unnecessary antibiotics, which can contribute to antibiotic resistance. These actions often come with good intentions, as adults seek to help children. However, this can lead to unnecessary interventions like overprescription of medications or treatments that have long-term harms. Before a child is even born, pregnancy can also become “overmedicalized.” Repeated tests without clear medical need, or screening for rare conditions without risk factors, can cause stress for families. In some cases, this can also lead to further invasive procedures with additional risks. This raises an important question of how to limit over-treatment of children while ensuring they receive appropriate, safe, and effective healthcare.