The topic I chose this week is nutrition. This topic is very personal to me because my oldest daughter, age 9, struggles with food on a daily basis. For the past 2 years, my daughter has been slowly losing weight and seems to be under nourished. I have done everything I can in order to increase her food intake, whether it is healthy foods or junk food, with no increase in weight. Because of this, she has now been put on several supplements to make up for the vitamins and minerals that she is not getting through food. She now has to take a liquid multivitamin (which contains trace minerals), vitamin D, iron, and fish oil. Nutrition has now become a major part of my life and I am interested in learning about how other countries handle nutrition.
“More than half of all child deaths are associated with malnutrition, which weakens the body's resistance to illness. Poor diet, frequent illness, and inadequate or inattentive care of young children can lead to malnutrition” (Mother and Child, 2011). Knowing this really stresses the importance of good nutrition, especially in children. This problem is not going to go away and it is definitely not something we can just ignore. “According to the United Nations State of Food Insecurity in the World report, 820 million people in the developing world are undernourished” (Nutrition, 2012).
“With more than 200 million hungry people, India has the largest number of hungry in the world” (Mother and Child, 2011). Because of this fact, I chose to look at nutrition in India as a whole. I was shocked to read the following facts on the UNICEF website:
“• India has the highest number of low birth weight babies per year at an estimated 7.4 million.
• Only 25 percent of newborns were put to the breast within one hour of birth.
• Less than half of children (46 percent) under six months of age are exclusively breastfed.
• Only 20 percent children age 6-23 months are fed appropriately according to all three recommended practices for infant and young child feeding.
• 70 percent of children age 6- 59 months are anemic. Children of mothers who are severely anemic are seven times as likely to be severely anemic as children of mothers who are not anemic.
• Only half (51 percent) of households use adequately iodized salt”(UNICEF, 2012).
• Only 25 percent of newborns were put to the breast within one hour of birth.
• Less than half of children (46 percent) under six months of age are exclusively breastfed.
• Only 20 percent children age 6-23 months are fed appropriately according to all three recommended practices for infant and young child feeding.
• 70 percent of children age 6- 59 months are anemic. Children of mothers who are severely anemic are seven times as likely to be severely anemic as children of mothers who are not anemic.
• Only half (51 percent) of households use adequately iodized salt”(UNICEF, 2012).
UNICEF is working with the government to help reduce and prevent malnutrition in children and to improve children’s overall health.
Through this assignment, I have gained a greater insight of the problem at hand. I plan to implement more nutritional activities in order to introduce children to different foods as well as provide extra vitamins and minerals through these foods. Good nutrition is important for children who are undernourished as well as children who fall on the other end of the spectrum and are overweight.
Resources:
India Nutrition. (2012). Retrieved from UNICEF website: http://www.unicef.org/india/nutrition.html
Nutrition. (2012). Retrieved from Children International website: http://www.children.org/Nutrition.asp.
Hi Melinda,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you chose to blog about nutrition. When I first opened my daycare one of my clients was very interested in the concept of "Baby Led Weaning" this methodology doesn't introduce purees but rather, suitably large pieces of real food. Baby gnaws on it and learns to like real food versus baby food. I have used this methodology with quite a few of the children and no one has ever choked here either. While my sample is not statistically sound I have observed that the children that eat "real" food become much better eaters and will eat a variety of foods including a lot of fruits and vegetables. Here's a website to take a look at if you would like
http://www.babyledweaning.com/
Best of luck getting your daughter to eat and gain weight, I am sure that is a tremendous worry to you.
Barbara
Melinda,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your blog on nutrition. The statistics that you presented about infants and children are alarming. As you know from your daughter's situation, malnutrition or nutrition issues are not limited to countries overseas. We find that many of the children in our Head Start program come to school each morning hungry. They eat everything they can while they are with us. We also have some students who are pre-diabetic II which is an adult diabetes. They are overweight. We work with nutritionist who provide meals for our children to help those on both ends of the spectrum.
I hope that doctors are able to find the cause of your daughter's eating issues. That must be a very difficult issue for you as a mom especially because you have already tried so many strategies to help her.
Melinda, thank you sharing such a personal story. Your daughter is beautiful. Do you have any idea what is causing these issues? You are doing exactly what needs to be done, and I'm certain you will find answers.
ReplyDeleteI somewhat know how you feel, because Adam chocked on a hamburger at McDonalds while in middle school. It was one of the scariest experiences in my life. After the instance, Adam would not eat anything that he had to swallow. He is thin anyways, and this was making him super thin. We gave him all sorts of nutrients, and he took Ensure everyday to make certain that he had the vitamins he needed. Not only did he go to doctors, but he went to a zillion psychologists for children, who I believe made it worse. My Pediatrician, whom I adore, told us to leave it alone for a bit and not drive Adam nuts over it; for us, that worked. It was a horrible couple of years, and I get chills thinking about it. Keep us posted about your daughter; she is in good hands with you!
Thank you for your encouragement Lois! The doctor thinks the weight issue is a side effect from her ADHD medicine. I have been seeing a naturalistic doctor who is also a chiropractor and does acupuncture. I talked to her about my daughter and she has actually started working on her, trying to get her off prescription ADHD medications, using herbal supplements instead. I am keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best. I will definitely keep you posted. Thank you again for your encouraging words. You have been such a positive support system for me over the past few months. You have been and continue to be a blessing to me.
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