Nutrition/ Malnutrition & Child Development
This week I chose to talk about nutrition and how it affects a child’s development. So many children today are not getting the nutrition that they need to be healthy and have healthy development. Nutrition is one factor that is important to a child’s cognitive development. Lack of nutrition or being malnourished can hinder a child’s development. Children that are malnourished tend to be sick more than children that are eating healthier. They miss more school thus they fall behind their peers academically. Nutrition is not only a parent’s responsibility, but also child care providers and the school system. While researching I found that poor nutrition between 12-36 months is associated with poor mental development and this can lead to problems later in life.
In other countries most children only consume grains such as rice and maize. Children do not have access to fruits, vegetables, and proteins. Less than 1% of aids to these countries are spent focusing on malnutrition of children and their families. I focused on the country of Bangladesh where child malnutrition rates are one of the highest in the world. UNICEF has a program in place to help children receive vitamin A supplements each year to help with their malnutrition. A lot of children die from curable diseases such as pneumonia because they are so under nourished. Their bodies are frail and they have stunted growth.
In order for children to grow and develop like they should they need to have good nutrition. Good nutrition habits need to start with the mother when they are pregnant. Schools, child care providers, and parents all need to work together to make sure that children are eating healthy so they can have optimal success in life.
Resources on Nutrition:
http://www.brightfutures.org/nutrition/pdf/ec.pdf
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