Child Development and Public Health

I chose nutrition/malnutrition. The topic is meaningful to me because, nutrition is the biggest part of a child's growth and development. Without the proper nutrition a child could have a small birth rate, have development delays, deadly illnesses, and brain abnormalities.

In India, children under age 5 die every year due to malnutrition and diarrhea. In 1993 the Government of India , the National Nutrition Policy was adopted to help pregnant mothers and children to receive the maximum of nutrition. the policy was set in place to monitor the need for good nutrition and malnutrition prevention. It is more common for children to be malnourished in Sub-Saharan Africa because of poor healthcare services, bad hygiene practices, and quality of care concerns for the children and expecting mother. Girls have a lower social status in India, which put them more at risk that boys.Malnourished children perform at a lower rate in school and the consequences affects the child's motor, sensory, cognitive, social and emotional development. Vitamin, mineral, iodine and vitamin A deficiency is a major public health problem because these all affect the child's development and survival rate in India (The Mother and Child Health and Education Trust, 2011).

The information that I have learned that may impact my future work as a educator, is that in order for a child to be able to survive to get the next level of development in cognitive, motor, sensory, social and emotional development, it need to start with good nutrition, hygiene, self awareness, healthcare services, preventative measures and knowledge.

Reference

The Mother and Child Health and Education Trust. (2011). Mother and Child Nutrition. Mother infant and young child nutrition and malnutrition. Retrieved from http://motherchildnutrition.org/malnutrition/index.html

Childbirth-In Your Life and Around the World

My first child's birth, was life changing experience becuase I was only 17 when I had my first. I ate plenty of fruits and vegetables and recieved WIC to help with my nutrition of my unborn child. I took prenatal vitamins and had other prenatl care through my OB/GYN. I did not know what to expect and the father was justas lost and unprepared as I was. My labor was not too bad, but it took a very long time to deliver. I was always nurturing to my first my born. I always talked with her, read to her every nighta and spent quality time with her. I enrolled my daughter into a pre-k program when she was 3 tohelp me to help her development process and learning abilites. I chose this example becaue there are more teenagers out there like me that need a support system.

I chose the region of China to discuss. The pregnant women in China, read stories before going to bed and there is no sexual activity. The pregnat women should not do any strainfurl work or attend funeral because it can cause a miscarriage. The pregnant women of China must eat their food mashed, properly cut and dark colored. The women do not have baby showers until the baby is born. During labor the women drink a strong herbal potion to help with the pain. Once the baby is born the women pray to godess with the offerings of sweet meats and incense. The women labor in a armchair or futon (Brown, 2011).

The difference between my childbirth and the women of China is that there tradition requires that the women do not work hard, they are fibben to have sex, and they must eat certain foods in a special way. The women of China do not have their babies in a hospital bed or any other bed, they have their babies in a chair. I gained the experience of how different tradtions of childbirth affect how you eat, sleep, engage in certain activities, how you handle labor and deliver your child.

Reference
Brown, L. (2011). Childbirth traditions around the world: China.