Description
The panel discussion on "Milestones in Early Life: Role of Nutrition" highlights the critical impact of proper nutrition during a child's early development. Adequate intake of essential nutrients supports brain development, cognitive function, and physical growth. Key milestones, such as motor skills, language acquisition, and immune system maturation, are influenced by a balanced diet. Early nutrition also helps establish long-term health, reducing the risk of chronic diseases later in life. Proper guidance and intervention during this period ensure optimal growth and development.
Résumé
- From birth to six months, exclusive breastfeeding fulfills all nutritional needs, except for Vitamin K injection at birth and Vitamin D supplementation. Problems arise after six months when the child's nutritional needs surpass what breast milk alone can provide, requiring adequate complementary feeding.
- Complementary feeding should be timely, starting at six months, and provide sufficient energy, protein, macronutrients, and micronutrients. The feeding method should ensure proper frequency, quantity, and safety, including hygienic preparation to prevent infection.
- The food consistency should be easily digestible, inexpensive, locally available, culturally acceptable, and easily prepared at home. Meeting the minimum acceptable diet, minimum meal frequency, and minimum diet diversity is crucial for good complementary feeding.
- Post six months, the nutritional needs increase exponentially, particularly for iron and zinc, far exceeding adult requirements. This period is crucial for both physical growth, where height at 2 years is approximately half the final adult height, and neurocognitive development.
- A nutritional gap exists due to the inability of typical home-cooked foods to meet the micronutrient requirements, leading to potential stunting, wasting, and underweight issues. While underweight prevalence is decreasing, overweight cases are increasing, linked to the "thrifty gene" theory and later risks of diabetes and cardiac issues.
- Sensory and oromotor development, including taste, texture, and smell, matures around six months, enabling the child to accept outside food. Enzymes get ready for digestion of outside foods. From suck-swallow-breathe to biting, chewing, the child progresses, further ready to accept new food.
- Micronutrient deficiencies, especially iron, are common in early childhood, with anemia affecting a significant percentage of children under three. Iron is crucial for neurocognitive development, and deficiencies during this window can cause irreversible IQ point loss.
- Fortified foods can address these deficiencies effectively, providing a practical and invisible way to deliver essential micronutrients. While supplementation is an option, fortification offers a more consistent and accessible method of ensuring adequate nutrient intake for optimal growth and development.
- The first 1000 days of a child's life are vital, and if appropriate action is not taken and appropriate feeding provided, there will be severe issues to be tackled later in life. Parents are encouraged to focus not only on filling the baby's stomach, but also nutritional gap with food rich with micronutrients.
Exemple de certificat
À propos des intervenants
Dr Shantanu Dutt
Consultant pédiatrique principal, hôpital pour enfants Dr Dutt, Moradabad
Divulgation financière
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