We can reduce incidents of child abuse in Montana [GreatFallsTribune.com]

It's safe to assume that every Montanan is against child abuse. But tragically, it happens all the time, the incidents of child abuse are actually increasing, and the impacts of abuse on the most vulnerable of Montana's citizens — our children — often last a lifetime.

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Twenty years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied the link between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), or childhood trauma, and the physical and behavioral health problems of children as they reach adolescence and adulthood. The study concluded that children subjected to high levels of trauma (high ACE scores) are much more likely to face a future of behavioral problems like alcoholism, smoking, and early pregnancy, as well as physical problems like obesity, heart and liver disease.

[For more of this story, written by Richard H. Opper, go to http://www.greatfallstribune.c...se-montana/25964897/]