Child Development and Public Health

Nutrition/malnutrition

I have seen the effects of malnutrition in Pakistan; its horror follows me here in the USA. I intend to gain more and more knowledge about nutrition so that I may be of some help to underprivileged children in the USA and in other parts of the world. 

Nutrition is essential at every stage, but it is more important for children because it helps them to stay healthy and strong and grow up healthy and strong. Nutrition of the child begins from the conception stage when mothers should have proper nutrition and healthy foods for the child. After birth, breastfeeding becomes another source of nutrition for the child. Nutritious diet during pregnancy results in a good fetus brain and in healthy birth of the child. Nutrition for women in pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, and over the first two years of the child’s life is very important for the mothers and their children. The nutrient reserve built over the pregnancy produces breast milk for the post-childbirth phase. Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for instants during 0-6 months of age. This will meet all the nutrition needs of the children to protect them from infection. Even after six months, breastfeeding with appropriate complementary feeding should continue to two years of age of the child.

                                                      Image from Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 2015-2020

Harvard T. H Chain recommends the following proportion of food in your child’s plate or lunchbox.

·       Vegetables and fruits – ½ of the   plate ·       Whole grains – ¼ of the plate ·       Protein power – ¼ of the plate ·       Drink water, milk, juice: Avoid beverages, limit milk and dairy products to one to two servings per day, and juice to a small glass per day. ·       Use healthy plant oils

 I teach pre-k children of age are 4-5. To develop an interest in young children about green food, we I I teach pre-k children of age are 4-5. To develop an interest in young children about green food, we have developed a garden. During springtime, our children start gardening under our guidance. While doing this, we educate children on how to stay healthy, why water is necessary for all living things? what will happen if we do not give water to plants? how many glasses of water should we intake during the day? Every Friday after circle time, we have a food project. We prepare salad sometime using vegetables from our school garden. With children, we prepare smoothie using blueberries, strawberries, low-fat yogurt, and milk.

It is true that nutrition deficiency in the USA has diminished, infectious diseases have gone, and life expectancy has increased; But in spite of the above facts, we have children with LBW in the USA which results in undergrowth and disability of the child. Another malnutrition prevalent in the USA is hidden hunger caused by a lack of essential nutrients. 

When I see the facts and figures of child malnutrition in Pakistan, I find it most alarming. About 9.6 million children are experiencing malnutrition in Pakistan.

Fifty percent of Pakistan’s children and mothers suffer from malnutrition. According to the National Nutrition Survey (NNS), 44 percent of children under the age of 5 are stunted or too short for their age, 15 percent suffer from wasting or too thin for their height and 32 percent are underweight. The study also found that more than half of all Pakistani women are anemic, mostly due to iron deficiency. During pregnancy, this condition becomes particularly alarming, because anemia contributes to maternal mortality. Thirty percent of children in Pakistan also suffer from anemia, which hinders their growth and make them vulnerable to disease, disability, and death.

The information and facts which came to me through this study on nutrition have shaken me. I intend to help underprivileged children in their nutrition. The first step will be efforts to increase awareness about the problem of malnutrition.

References

Healthy Eating Plate. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-

eating-plate/

Poverty and Malnutrition. (2019). Retrieved from

https://features.unicef.org/state-of-the-worlds-children-2019-nutrition/