“Good Nutrition is a foundation of a child’s survival, health, and development”.
Ensuring appropriate and sufficient nutrition is fundamental in everyone’s physiologic health, especially to newborn children. I definitely agree with this statement that good nutrition is essential to every child because if they receive necessary nutrients in their first 1000 days or in the stage of their critical period, they will gain a positive long term effect especially when they grow up. Good nutrition starts as early as the baby is inside the mother’s womb. After they were born the strict adherence to breastfeeding must be emphasized and followed by the mother. Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of children is monumental to their health as this provides short and long-term benefits for both the mother and child. Focusing on the baby, breastfeeding is only what they need because this already meets their nutritional needs, hence the best source of nutrition. In addition, according to CDC breastfed babies have a lower risk of having asthma, obesity, type 1 diabetes, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and the babies will develop a strong immune system as the antibodies are passed on through the milk. Moreover, the first 1000 days is a great period of opportunity to lower the risk of children being malnourished, especially in the category of undernutrition, and by providing adequate nutrition the child will gain optimum health, growth, and neurodevelopment across their lifespan (Cusick & Georgieff, 2013). Aside from good nutrition, the first 1000 days of a child should also encompass their other needs for their psychosocial development and this includes loving relationships and safety & security to prepare them for being a responsible member of the society they belong to.
Indeed as future nurses, it is part of our role and responsibility to provide health education and caring to mothers and children to ensure their overall safety and health. We should also emphasize and collaborate with the other members of the family on how they can take part in caring and providing sufficient needs to babies in home settings.
References:
Cusick, S. & Georgieff, M.K. (2013, April 12). The first 1,000 days of life: The brain’s window of opportunity. Unicef for every child. Retrieved March 21, 2022, from https://www.unicef-irc.org/article/958-the-first-1000-days-of-life-the-brains-window-of-opportunity.html
Center for Disease and Prevention. (2021, July 27). Breastfeeding Benefits Both Baby and Mom. Retrieved March 21, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/features/breastfeeding-benefits/index.html#:~:text=Breast%20milk%20antibodies%20help%20protect,against%20certain%20illnesses%20and%20diseases