Why mothers shouldn’t worry about children wearing facemasks

As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to spread, the use of face masks in families and children is imperative and indispensable because of the rapid spread of this novel virus in homes. However, for many parents, getting children of all age groups to wear a face mask and leave it on may look like a challenge.

The latest evidence shows that children can be infected with COVID-19 and can infect each other and adults. However, they have an extremely low risk of becoming severely unwell from the infection and younger children are much less likely to pass the virus to  older ones.

By wearing face masks in public, even when children feel well, they can help stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect their families, their communities and themselves.

Howbeit, the perception of many mothers on the use of face masks by children for the prevention of COVID-19 is still controversial, especially with regards to who should wear the face mask and at what age.

Researcher’s, in ascertaining the perception of mothers on masking in children as a preventive strategy for COVID-19 in the 2020 PLOS One journal suggested that a minority (44.7%) of the mothers in Nigeria might perceive masking in children as an appropriate measure for the prevention of COVID-19.

This was based on a cross-sectional study among 387 mothers who presented their children for the first time at the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, Enugu and Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi, Nigeria, during the COVID- 19 pandemic. Both hospitals were designated as isolation centres in the fight against COVID-19.

The frequent reasons given by the majority (55.3per cent) of the mothers for the inappropriateness of face mask in children included perceived difficulty in breathing (38.5 per cent) and the child’s readiness to pull it off (29.3 per cent).

A significantly higher proportion of the children whose mothers were 35 years and above, 64.2 per cent would wear face masks when compared with 31.7 per cent of those whose mothers were less than 30 years of age. The children whose mothers were less than 30 years were about four times less likely to wear a face mask when compared with those whose mothers were aged 35 years and above.

Similarly, a significantly higher proportion (51.0 per cent) of the children who were more than one year of age would wear a face mask when compared with 20.5 per cent of those aged eight days to one year.  The children whose fathers  attained tertiary education were about twice less likely to wear face masks when compared with those whose fathers attained secondary education and less.

Howbeit, mothers need not fear respiratory distress in even babies that wear facemasks. A small study in Italy said children as young as four months can wear masks without respiratory distress.  The study looked at children under the age of 12 to assess whether wearing a mask would obstruct their breathing, and found no respiratory change.

The study, published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open, looked at 47 children between the ages of four months and 12 years, and measured their breathing while wearing surgical masks during normal play activities and light exercise.

Because children are statistically less affected by COVID-19 — in general, they catch it less often and are less likely to have serious outcomes if they do fall ill — the question of young children in masks hasn’t been raised very often during the pandemic.

Professor Adegoke Falade, a consultant paediatrician at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, however, said that mother’s perception of masking in children as a preventive strategy cannot be waved aside because mothers have a large influence on the health of their babies and the success of many health interventions in the past.

Professor Falade said even in northern Nigeria, the husband must give permission before the wife will not do anything, the influence of mothers on their children is still more profound and so should be tapped into ensuring increased used of facemasks by children,

However, he said that facemask in children is not for all children below 5 years based on the World Health Organisation.

Chairman, University College Hospital Taskforce on COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Uwom Eze stated that the international guideline on the use of facemasks in children indicate that children below 5 years are  supposed to wear facemasks if they have underlying health conditions, have symptoms of  or confirmed COVID-19, or are around someone who is ill.

However, Dr Eze said children above 6 years in a crowded place, at school and other public places because of the possibility of COVID-19 community transmission must wear a facemask.

He declared that it is an established fact that mother’s perception of any health issue will influence how they react to it or ensure their children are protected.

Meanwhile, Mrs Tolulope Olusola-Jimoh, community mobilisation officer, Oyo State Agency  for Control of AIDS, usage of facemasks by children is fraught  with many challenges, many children share their facemasks with their friends, touch their faces frequently with their hands and don’t know the correct way to pull off their facemask.

According to Mrs Jimoh,  a mother’s perception of the benefits of wearing facemasks in children need to improve because children tend to listen more to what they are told by their mothers,

She added, “when mothers reinforce a particular virtue or quality in the ears of their children, such children get to know about it and that will eventually become part of their lives.”

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