By now, the effect of under nutrition for your child can be devastating and enduring. It can impede behavioral and cognitive development, educability, and reproductive health, thereby undermining future work productivity. Whether or not children are well-nourished during their first years of life can have a profound effect on their health status, as well as their ability to learn, communicate, think analytically, socialize effectively and adapt to new environments and people.
What you need to know
Good nutrition is the first line of defense against numerous childhood diseases, which can leave their mark on a child for life. Some of the developmental problems experienced by malnourished children are caused by direct physiological crippling, such as retarded brain growth and low birth weight; whereas other conditions are the result of limited and abnormal interaction and stimulation vital to healthy development.
Good nutrition and good health are very closely linked throughout a person’s lifespan, but the connection is even more striking during this stage of your child. Over half of child mortality in low-income countries can be attributed to malnutrition. So do make sure you give your child all the essential nutrients through healthy meals without fail.
