“Good Nutrition is a foundation of a child’s survival, health, and development.”
What are your insights on this quote?
Growing children are extremely vulnerable to whatever the outside world throws at them. Every bit and aspect of them—physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual—is still developing at a rapid pace. As a consequence, what they require are non-harmful world influences that are sufficient to facilitate optimum growth and development, which is highly dependent, aside from on their immediate environment, on their nutrition consumption. Therefore, proper nutrition is the foundation of child survival and development, according to UNICEF. Children who are well-nourished are better able to develop, learn, play, and partake in their communities. In addition, they are more resilient in the face of difficult situations.
It is unfortunate, however, that several children today do not receive the nutrition they require to adapt and survive. This is particularly true for the most impoverished and vulnerable children especially in our country. Children affected by stunting and wasting may never reach their full cognitive potential and may even have compromised immune systems, making it much more difficult for them to fully contribute to their communities.
As living beings, we heavily rely on food for survival, health, and development. The same is true for children; however, their nourishment at this stage in life has a strong influence on how they grow and develop into adults, making the quality of their nutrition even more important and impactful on the people they will become in the future. As future nurses, we must advocate for children’s proper nutrition as it is, indeed, a foundation of a child’s survival, health, and development.
References
UNICEF. (n.d.). Nutrition. Retrieved from: https://www.unicef.org/nutrition#:~:text=Good%20nutrition%20is%20the%20bedrock%20of%20child%20survival,also%20more%20resilient%20in%20the%20face%20of%20crisis.
Wilson, K.L. (2018, December 17). What Is the Importance of Good Nutrition For Kids? Retrieved from SFGate: https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/effects-good-nutrition-childrens-behavior-9126.html.