A public health expert, Prof. Adefunke Oyemade, on Tuesday urged the three tiers of government to improve on the existing facilities at juvenile homes and make them more habitable. Oyemade told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that fostering a conducive environment was critical to the prevention of deprived children from becoming juvenile delinquents. She said: “The health of a child is to a large extent, influenced by his environment, that environment is the society, the family, most essentially the mother.

“Maternal deprivation like most medical concepts have evolved over a period of years and it involves institutionalisation, mother-child separation, multiple mothering and distortion in the quality of care. “Institutional child may have a normal physical development but becomes mentally retarded because of lack of social stimulation and individual attention. “With a good environment and a loving substitute mother, a remarkable improvement can be achieved in a child’s social and mental development. “The effects may be reversed if relief from deprivation is instituted early enough