This work is concerned with the influence of the family on some parameters of health in disabled children. Children and adolescents aged 10 to 18 years (160 disabled and 165 controls) enrolled. Physical and mental health was assessed and correlated with living conditions of the family and degree of irritability. The results show that disabled children live in much worse conditions than their healthy counterparts, thereby suffering from constitutional delay (short stature, underweight) and psychomotoric irritability. Poor dwelling conditions are an additional cause of health problems in disabled children.