First 1000 Day Forum
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Undeniably, good nutrition is an essential component of maintaining and ensuring a child’s health and well-being. It is a foundation of a child’s survival, health, and development insofar that the UNICEF emphasizes good nutrition by characterizing it as the bedrock for child growth and development. My personal take couldn’t be said any better than how UNICEF identified good nutrition as. I envision well-nourished children with stronger immunity, better health, unhindered growth; able to grow, play, learn, smile, and participate in activities just like how healthy children are supposed to do and enjoy when good and proper nutrition is adequately provided.
Stronger Immunity. A child’s immunity, though mainly influenced and responsive of their current eating patterns and daily nutrition, is also influenced by their nutrition as a baby. Exclusive breastfeeding from birth up to 6 months provide a baby with sufficient immunity to fight off sepsis and other neonatal conditions, reduces the risk of diarrhea, ensures proper and adequate nutrition, and provision of antibodies from the mother. All of which strengthens a baby’s immunity during their most vulnerable period in life. Good nutrition at a very young age and at the beginning of life, especially the first 1000 days, enhances the body’s immune system, making it a foundation of a child’s survival.
Better Health. With better health comes better quality of life. Children who receive adequate and balanced nutrition show while growing up demonstrate more superior academic performance, physical activity, cognitive skills, and educational behavior. After all, without good nutrition, there is a significant lack of macronutrients that provide energy, build muscles, and facilitate life processes. Micronutrients are also missing. Weak bones, thin frame, pale skin, fatigue, and shortage of breath are some clinical manifestations of micronutrient deficiency. Indeed, good nutrition result to positive health outcomes that enable a child to maximize life to the fullest.
Unhindered Growth. A body undergoing rapid changes require complete and sufficient supplementation of nutritional elements. The lack of, if left unrecognized and unsupported, may result to stunting. Below the expected physical characteristics of their age group, children who express stunted growth is one if the primary manifestations of malnutrition in early childhood. Not only does good nutrition enhances and supports growth, it also maintains the body’s physical state to prevent wasting where muscle and fat erodes and wastes away. If proper nutrition is not provided, growth and development of a child would be impeded.
And, unfortunately, that is the case for many, many children in the world. Millions, in fact. The World Health Organization estimates that around 45% of deaths among children under 5 years of age are linked to undernutrition. It is estimated that at least one in three children under 5 is malnourished. Stunting, one of the most visible forms of malnutrition, affects some 144 million children under 5 worldwide while wasting impacts the life of about 47 million children globally. Obesity is also a form of malnutrition that is present in 38.9 million children in the world. While it is true that good nutrition is a foundation to a child’s survival, health, and development, the opposite is also true where every day, 95 children in the Philippines die from malnutrition.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2014). Health and academic achievement [PDF]. CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/health_and_academics/pdf/health-academic-achievement.pdf
World Health Organization (WHO). (2021, June 9). Malnutrition. WHO. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malnutrition
World Health Organization (WHO). (2021, June 9). Micronutrients. WHO. https://www.who.int/health-topics/micronutrients#tab=tab_1
World Health Organization (WHO). (2021, June 9). Nutrition. WHO. https://www.unicef.org/nutrition