A professor of Social Dimensions of Sexual Reproductive Health, Prof. Eugene Maafo Darteh, has advised parents and guardians to be mindful of the mental health of their children.

He noted that parents often times fail to pay attention to the emotions of their children since issues regarding the area are less spoken about and usually taken lightly.

Out of 28 million Ghanaians, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 2.3 million persons have a mental health issue and require mental health care. Out of the number, only 2% of them receive care and assistance from psychiatric services. Further, a study conducted in 2019 in Ghana indicates that 12–27% of primary school-aged children have emotional or behavioural issues with 20–29% of high school students saddled with mental health issues.

Speaking at the 56^th Awards Day of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) Basic School, Prof. Darteh, who is also the Dean of Students’ Affairs of UCC, indicated that issues of mental health among children often go unnoticed and could become a precursor for full-blown mental health problems in the future.

He cautioned parents against unhealthy comparisons over their children’s academic achievements and advised them to understand the spate of academic growth of their children and spur them on to make reasonable gains.

“If you should check my reports for my first few years in basic school, I was not a good student. My first three years in secondary school were bad and my first semester in the university was also bad but determination and hard work gradually saw me to this point. So, know the strength of your child and encourage the child to improve” he advised.

Prof. Darteh also noted that it was important for parents to allow their children engage in physical activity to improve on their overall health.

“It should not only be watching of television, using tablets and the likes. Allow them to engage in other physical activities that will help them get active and generally improve their health” he added.