PENNSYLVANIA
The Tribune-Democrat
By Marcia Moore
CNHI News Reports
Health officials around Pennsylvania are sounding the alarm on child protection.
Pat Bruno, director of the Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital Child Advocacy Center in Sunbury said the public needs to understand how adverse childhood experiences affect adults later in life.
“What we need now is a movement,” Bruno said. “We need to make people aware that we’re dealing with a public health crisis.”
Researchers of the Adverse Childhood Experience Study found traumatic childhood experiences can lead decades later to physical and mental health problems.
“We know the more adverse childhood experiences you have, the more likely in the long term you’ll have physical problems, behavioral problems, psychological problems as an adult,” Bruno said. “We know your life expectancy will be decreased by as many as 20 years.”
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