“Good Nutrition is a foundation of a child’s survival, health, and development”.
What are your insights on this quote?
Good nutrition in the first 1,000 days plays a fundamental role in enabling a child to grow, learn and thrive as the first 1,000 days is a critical window opportunity to shape a child’s early development (Thousand Days, n.d.). This time period is said to be the most vulnerable time for any human life as it is the period that a child’s brain grows the quickest and a child needs the right and proper nutrients to feed the brain’s rapid development. In relation to this, the practice of good nutrition can greatly lessen the risks of developing chronic illness and can promote normal mental and physical development.
Stunting, the impaired growth and development that children experience, is an irreversible outcome of inadequate nutrition during the first 1,000 days or otherwise known as the “golden window of opportunity” (Rivas & Federizo, 2021). This can cause effects that can affect the child until adulthood, which include diminished cognitive and physical development, as well as the risk of obesity in their adulthood.
Reference:
Rivas, T.A. & Federizo, M.V. (2021). National Nutrition Council. Prevent stunting: Ensure good nutrition in the first 1000 days. Retrieved from https://www.nnc.gov.ph/regional-offices/luzon/national-capital-region/5393-prevent-stunting-ensure-good-nutrition-in-the-first-1000-days
Thousand Days. (n.d.). Nutrition in the first 1,000 days. Retrieved from https://thousanddays.org/wp-content/uploads/1000Days-Nutrition_Brief_Brain-Think_Babies_FINAL.pdf