Before you can understand how nutrition/malnutrition impacts the development of a child, you must first understand nutrition and malnutrition. Nutrition refers to the consumption of materials necessary to support a healthy life. Malnutrition is the condition that comes from the lack of nutrients in diet, too high of an intake or the wrong proportions are being consumed. Both nutrition and malnutrition play a huge role in the development of children.Proper nutrition provides children with the energy and nutrients needed to meet their physical and mental potential. The lack of nutrients present in a child’s diet is damaging because their bodies are constantly changing, going through different stages of development.
Whether we realize it or not, a child’s diet affects them on a daily basis. Students that get the proper nutrients and the proper amount are providing their bodies with the fuel needed to grow their minds and body. Children with a healthy diet tend to be more focused and have a longer attention span. Children that are malnourished experience fatigue, low energy, and are more perceptible to infection and sickness.
Malnutrition in Central America
Reference:
Pitts, N.(2012) Central America. Malnutrition and Poverty threaten to the region yet. Retrieved from http://www.jpic-jp.org/71-en.html
Tiffany, you are so right. A good diet is very important for all children. Some parents believe if you feed a child a good breakfast, it will take them through all day. This is not necessarily so, a child needs breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as snack to get the right amount of nutrition necessary to be healthy and fight disease.
ReplyDeleteHi Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteI also felt Malnutrition was important to me as well. I find this to be a very disturbing thing for young children to have to live through. The reason that I find this so disturbing is because I’m sure here in the United States that many families throw away leftover foods on a daily basis. These leftovers that we throw away could probably feed a whole family in Africa. We take advantage of what we have within our on reach, while others are going to bed hungry.
Also, I feel the health and growth that is being damage in the children who are under-fed or just not given the right types of foods that makes them healthy. This is stunting their growth and the able to learn.
Hi Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteA good diet malnutrition is important for children. I see sometimes a lot of parents feed their child fast food and that is not healthy for them. When I was coming up my mother made sure we had a three course balance meal everyday and a lot of families do not do the family style of sitting down eating around the table and feel like that is so important. That is the time to spend with family and talk about each other day.
Hey Tiffany! I did mine on malnutrition as well. It is so hurting that so many children in different countries are suffering from malnutrition. Healthy nutrition for children is very important for proper development.As a teacher you never know what children go home to. Some may not have a hot meal at home and have to find something to eat on their own. I make it a point to make sure that my students eat breakfast and a great lunch and I provide them all with a healthy snack.
ReplyDelete