According to non-profit organization1,000 Days, a baby's brain already contains 10 billion cells during the24th week of pregnancy– and these cells thrive on nutrition from the mother. If she’s not eating enough calories or nutrients, the brain won’t form properly, which may lead to developmental delays andbirth defects.
A baby’s brain continues to develop after he’s born, especially during the first few years of life. In fact, the brain makes 700 neural connections per second during age one, and it reaches 80% of adult brain size by age two, says Evelyn Rusli, co-founder of an organic baby food brand calledYumi, which was developed with the first 1,000 days in mind. Again, the nutrition a child receives plays a major role.
“Babies are built for nutrition. It's the fuel for growth anddevelopment in the brain” says Lucy Sullivan, Executive Director of 1,000 Days. Sullivan says chronic malnutrition in utero or early childhood may cause to stunting, or a failure to thrive. This irreversible condition negatively impacts brain function, IQ, and the immune system. Stunting is also associated with a greater risk of diabetes, cancer, or other diseases.
On the other hand, if an infant receives excess nutrition (too much unhealthy foods) in the first 1,000 days of life, they’re more likely to have future weight issues or heart health problems. Gaining too much weight too fast “could predispose children to alifelong struggle with obesity– plus diseases that are associated with obesity like diabetes or heart disease,” says Sullivan.
The first 1,000 days of a child's life are the most important to their development - and our economic success
The first 1,000 days of life – from conception to age three – open a critical and singular window of opportunity. During this period, children’s brains can form 1,000 neural connections every second. A three-year-old’s brain is twice as active as that of an adult and the connections their brain makes are the building blocks of their future.
The science is clear about what a young brain needs to make those connections:
Stimulation from the earliest possible moment: A child who is read to, talked to, sung to, played with, is not only happier today, but will have a better cognitive capacity – a better chance to live a fuller, more productive life. A 20-year study released in 2014 showed that children from disadvantaged households who received high-quality stimulation at a young age grew into adults who earned an average of 25% more than those who did not receive these interventions. And yet, it’s estimated that governments worldwide spend less than 2% of their education budgets on early childhood learning programmes.
Nutrition: In the first years of life, a child’s brain consumes between 50-75% of all energy absorbed from food and good nutrition. A child who does not receive the nutrition he or she needs is at risk of stunted cognitive, as well as physical, development. And yet, around the world, at least 150 million children suffer from stunting and millions more are at risk from poor nutrition.
Protection: Violence, abuse, neglect and traumatic experiences produce high levels of cortisol – a hormone that triggers the “flight or fight” response to danger. When cortisol levels remain high for too long, they produce toxic stress, which limits brain connectivity in children. Yet around the world, millions upon millions of children are living through the horror of violent conflicts and other emergencies. An untold number are experiencing violence and abuse in their homes.
Exposure to air pollution: This can break down critical barriers in a child’s brain, leading to the loss and damage of neural tissue. Around the world, around 300 million children live in areas where the air is toxic, exceeding international limits by at least six times.
Stimulation, nutrition, protection from violence and pollution, all shape children’s futures – and affect the futures of countries, economies and, indeed, our common world.
Nutrition is not only fundamental to an individual’s cognitive and physical growth, it is also the cornerstone of all development efforts, whether improving education, health, income or equality, at home or abroad. And the most important time for good nutrition is in the 1,000 days from the beginning of a woman’s pregnancy to the second birthday of her child. What happens in those first days determines to a large extent the course of a child’s life – his or her ability to grow, learn, work, succeed – and, by extension, the long-term health, stability and prosperity of the society in which that child lives.
Maybe you’re wondering: Why hasn’t foreign or domestic aid had more impact on economic development and poverty reduction? One major reason is that we’ve so badly neglected nutrition in utero and infancy. Too many children are getting off to a lousy start in life.
Nutrition, which works silently and internally, has long been the neglected stepchild of international development – part agriculture, part health, but disdainfully disowned by both fields. Agriculture’s practitioners have often believed their main task to be the production of ever-increasing yields; concerns about the nutritious quality of the food have been dismissed as a nuisance that could only interfere with quantity.
And the health ministries of the world have been in a constant chase for dollars to combat the disease du jour and to vaccinate mothers and children. Spending on nutrition has barely registered as a blip in national budgets.
The leading development organizations did little to elevate nutrition’s profile. In past decades, less than 1 per cent of total international development aid had been spent on nutrition, resulting in an illogical imbalance: nutrition is essential to human development, but virtually invisible in development strategies.
The first 1,000 days has been similarly overlooked. World health and development organizations have usually fixated on age five and primary school as milestone targets for intervention. For example, getting children into school has long been a holy grail of successful development. But ensuring brain development in the first 1,000 days so children are actually capable of learning once they get to school has been largely ignored.
The first 1000 days of intervention is a golden opportunity to tackle debilitating nutritional problems. At the same time, the focus should extend to adolsecents, the second window of opportunity!
4 Comments
Abiy Tamerat Assefa
What Is The First 1,000 Days?
According to non-profit organization 1,000 Days, a baby's brain already contains 10 billion cells during the 24th week of pregnancy – and these cells thrive on nutrition from the mother. If she’s not eating enough calories or nutrients, the brain won’t form properly, which may lead to developmental delays and birth defects.
A baby’s brain continues to develop after he’s born, especially during the first few years of life. In fact, the brain makes 700 neural connections per second during age one, and it reaches 80% of adult brain size by age two, says Evelyn Rusli, co-founder of an organic baby food brand called Yumi, which was developed with the first 1,000 days in mind. Again, the nutrition a child receives plays a major role.
“Babies are built for nutrition. It's the fuel for growth and development in the brain” says Lucy Sullivan, Executive Director of 1,000 Days. Sullivan says chronic malnutrition in utero or early childhood may cause to stunting, or a failure to thrive. This irreversible condition negatively impacts brain function, IQ, and the immune system. Stunting is also associated with a greater risk of diabetes, cancer, or other diseases.
On the other hand, if an infant receives excess nutrition (too much unhealthy foods) in the first 1,000 days of life, they’re more likely to have future weight issues or heart health problems. Gaining too much weight too fast “could predispose children to a lifelong struggle with obesity – plus diseases that are associated with obesity like diabetes or heart disease,” says Sullivan.
source;https://www.parents.com/baby/feeding/nutrition/why-the-first-1000-days-really-matter/
Abiy Tamerat Assefa
The first 1,000 days of a child's life are the most important to their development - and our economic success
The first 1,000 days of life – from conception to age three – open a critical and singular window of opportunity. During this period, children’s brains can form 1,000 neural connections every second. A three-year-old’s brain is twice as active as that of an adult and the connections their brain makes are the building blocks of their future.
The science is clear about what a young brain needs to make those connections:
Stimulation, nutrition, protection from violence and pollution, all shape children’s futures – and affect the futures of countries, economies and, indeed, our common world.
source:-https://www.weforum.org/
Abiy Tamerat Assefa
Why The First 1,000 Days Matter Most
Nutrition is not only fundamental to an individual’s cognitive and physical growth, it is also the cornerstone of all development efforts, whether improving education, health, income or equality, at home or abroad. And the most important time for good nutrition is in the 1,000 days from the beginning of a woman’s pregnancy to the second birthday of her child. What happens in those first days determines to a large extent the course of a child’s life – his or her ability to grow, learn, work, succeed – and, by extension, the long-term health, stability and prosperity of the society in which that child lives.
Maybe you’re wondering: Why hasn’t foreign or domestic aid had more impact on economic development and poverty reduction? One major reason is that we’ve so badly neglected nutrition in utero and infancy. Too many children are getting off to a lousy start in life.
Nutrition, which works silently and internally, has long been the neglected stepchild of international development – part agriculture, part health, but disdainfully disowned by both fields. Agriculture’s practitioners have often believed their main task to be the production of ever-increasing yields; concerns about the nutritious quality of the food have been dismissed as a nuisance that could only interfere with quantity.
And the health ministries of the world have been in a constant chase for dollars to combat the disease du jour and to vaccinate mothers and children. Spending on nutrition has barely registered as a blip in national budgets.
The leading development organizations did little to elevate nutrition’s profile. In past decades, less than 1 per cent of total international development aid had been spent on nutrition, resulting in an illogical imbalance: nutrition is essential to human development, but virtually invisible in development strategies.
The first 1,000 days has been similarly overlooked. World health and development organizations have usually fixated on age five and primary school as milestone targets for intervention. For example, getting children into school has long been a holy grail of successful development. But ensuring brain development in the first 1,000 days so children are actually capable of learning once they get to school has been largely ignored.
source:-https://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/06/20/why-the-first-1000-days-matter-most/
Asnake Ararsa
The first 1000 days of intervention is a golden opportunity to tackle debilitating nutritional problems. At the same time, the focus should extend to adolsecents, the second window of opportunity!