Bonn/Hamburg  - Children should be told about a parent's affliction with cancer as soon as possible because uncertainty is much more stressful than the truth.

This is according to Georg Romer, acting director of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf and director of the information centre Children of Somatically Ill Parents.

"Many emotional problems could be prevented if parents spoke early and openly about the illness," he remarked.

Romer said parents should explain to the child how cancer develops, that it was not contagious, and more and more cancer patients were being cured. He added that it could also be helpful to inform the child's nursery school or classroom teachers so that they were more considerate, understanding and comforting should the child behave strangely.

According to the Bonn-based non-profit organization German Cancer Aid, every year in Germany up to 200,000 children under the age of 18 learn that one of their parents has cancer. It said they often became withdrawn, had increased household responsibilities and less time for hobbies or play. One in three developed emotional disorders.

German Cancer Aid is helping to fund a new project, led by a team from the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, aimed at giving these children more support.

Internet: www. krebshilfe. de/english. html  (dpa)