“Good Nutrition is a foundation of a child’s survival, health, and development”.
Indeed, good nutrition is one of the most important aspects of one’s overall health, however, what many fail to understand is that this is especially crucial during the child’s early development in life. This is because most of the important developments such as organ and tissue formation happen during early life. For example, it is during the first 1000 days of the child when the brain grows at a phenomenal rate, creating up to 1000 neural connections per second, a rate that is never again achieved in a lifetime. This growth heavily depends on the availability of nutrients needed as building blocks, protection, and stimulation from “talk, play and responsive attention from caregivers.” Without sufficient nutrition needed during this stage, the child may have a poor brain and other vital signs development, weak immunity against infectious diseases, and delayed activity and cognitive functioning as compared to those children of the same age with proper nutrition.
Additionally, when good nutrition is not established early in life, this can affect the child’s future and overall health and well-being. For example, when the child’s brain development is not optimal, this can lead to delays in cognitive development which could result in the reduced ability to learn during the school-age period. Poor nutrition can also have significant impacts on the child’s social and emotional domains such as difficulties understanding social cues, initiating communication, and difficulties in dealing with frustrations or coping with change. Aside from this, there is also a serious impact on the child’s physical development such as stunting or being short for one’s age.
Given this myriad of consequences that can ultimately impede the development and growth of the child, one of the programs of the Department of Health to address this is the First 1000 days Manual of Procedures (MOPr) which is a direct response to Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act of 2018. The program follows the Nurturing Framework which includes adequate nutrition as one of the most important components in ensuring healthy growth and development of the child during the first 1000 days from conception until the age of two.
Some of the ways to ensure adequate nutrition include, breastfeeding exclusively for the first 6 months, supporting responsive feeding, giving micronutrients such as vitamin, iron-folic acid, zinc, and multiple micronutrients, helping children transition to eating nutritious family foods, and ensuring good maternal nutrition.
REFERENCES:
Department of Health. (2018). The First 1000 days Manual of Procedures. https://doh.gov.ph/sites/default/files/basic-page/MOPr%201000%20Days_Horizontal_210817_a4.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3xLnTCHo6dpOuPZ6Ci1CDRhjtYELNSFhdFPQ4y-PcwCh0nwiPgr2N6rhE.
NYU Langone Health. (n.d.). Types of Developmental Delays in Children. Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone. https://nyulangone.org/conditions/developmental-delays-in-children/types.
SmileFoundation. (2020). Importance of nutrition for children. https://www.smilefoundationindia.org/blog/importance-of-nutrition-for-children/#:~:text=The%203%20most%20important%20benefits,activity%20levels%20and%20cognitive%20functioning.
United Nations Children’s Fund. (2017). Early childhood development: For every child, early moments matter. https://www.unicef.org/early-childhood-development.