A new study shows 25% of U.S. parents lied about their children's health status throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to sidestep public health restrictions that were designed to keep sick kids home from school. File Photo by Sarah Silbiger/UPI |
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March 6 (UPI) -- About a quarter of U.S. parents lied about their children's health status throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in order to avoid public health restrictions that were intended to fight the virus by keeping sick kids home from school, according to a study released Monday.
About 25.9% of the parents that participated in the study reported misrepresentation or nonadherence in at least one of seven categories related to reporting their childrens' health related to COVID-19, the survey titled "Public Health Parental Nonadherence to Health Policy Recommendations for Prevention of COVID-19 Transmission Among Children" found.
"These results suggest that some [public health measures] implemented to limit the spread of COVID-19 may have been compromised due to misrepresentation and nonadherence by parents on behalf of their children, contributing to COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality," the study, which appeared in Monday's issue of JAMA Network Open said.
The survey asked parents if they had ever engaged in specific "misrepresentation and non-adherence behaviors," and presented the participants with generalized multiple-choice answers to explain the reasons for their actions, including "I would have to miss work," or "my child would miss school."
The survey found that 150 of the 580 online participants admitted they misrepresented themselves by not reporting symptoms, or broke stay-at-home policies by sending children to class even if they had tested positive for the virus.
Results showed that the most common reasons were "wanting to exercise personal freedom as a parent," with other reasons including wanting their child's "life to feel normal" and not being able to miss work or other responsibilities in order to stay home.
The study, conducted between Dec. 8 and 23, 2021, also revealed that parents experienced greater instances of family and financial stress due to school closings and other such restrictions, more so than those who had no children -- leading to increased episodes of deception.
