•What you must know
By Doris Obinna
Nutrition is the process of consuming, absorbing, and using nutrients needed by the body for growth, development, and maintenance of life. To receive adequate, appropriate nutrition, people need to consume a healthy diet, which consists of a variety of nutrients, the substances in foods that nourish the body.
Ada Ezeogu, Nutrition Specialist, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), South West said: “When child is well nourished, that child is less likely to fall ill, and the child is able to fight diseases to certain level.” She spoke at an advocacy meeting by National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lagos State, in collaboration with UNICEF.
She said: “The first 1000 days of a child’s life starts from conception and covers the period of pregnancy. So if you calculate the period of pregnancy, say, 270 days plus the first year; 365 plus another 365 days, you arrive at 1000 days. This covers the period of conception up to when the child is two years old, that’s the second birthday.
“That is a time of tremendous development for the child. It’s a time when the brain is being developed. It is also a time when you lay lifelong health benefits for the child. And it is also a time that you can ensure that the child has a good start in life because it grants everybody equal opportunity to lay down those foundations.
“A lot happens within that period because the child gets all their nutrients from the mother. If a mother is not well nourished, it affects the growth of the baby within her. The baby can come out with a low birth rate or is already stunted from the womb. The baby comes into life already disadvantaged because you need to put in special intervention to make sure the baby survives and strives.
“If a mother is well nourished and then the baby is ready to come, she’s assisted to deliver by a skilled birth attendant in the health facility, the child comes in already well nourished and starting life in a good way.
“Once that child arrives, we move on to early initiation by putting the child to the breast. You commence breastfeeding within one hour of birth. That protects that child from dying. Children who are not put to the breast within that one-hour have a greater risk of dying in the first month of life.
“We encourage mothers once the child is delivered, to put the child to the breast. We call it early initiation because there are a lot of advantages; it protects the child from dying in the early stages of life, it provides immunity and prevents them from easily catching other childhood diseases.
“Immediately after the early initiation, the mother should continue with exclusive breastfeeding because the breast milk contains all the nutrients that the child needs to grow and develop both physically and mentally. It also provides the opportunity for the mother to stimulate the child. So there is bonding while the child is holistically developing both in terms of mental as well as psychological wellbeing. Breastfeeding provides all of these; in fact, it is the golden standard of feeding children that are below six months.
“Once that child gets to six months, the breast milk is no longer able to meet all the nutritional requirements of that child. After six months, the breast milk is necessary, indeed essential, however, it would not meet the nutrient requirement for the child so you need to complement. That’s why we say complementary foods; so the child still takes the breast milk but in addition to some other nutrients.
“Whatever you are going to give to the child at that point needs to be nutritious. When we say nutritious, it has to be different food groups so that it can provide different forms of nutrients for that child and it has to be in a form where that is able to use it.
“It’s not like the family meal; it has to be either semi solid or very soft for the child to be able to eat it. At six months, you commence complementary feeding to that child.
Adequate nutrients for child
“For a mother to ensure that the child gets enough nutrients, especially children that don’t eat but want milk all the time, if you watch children closely, by the time they get to six months, you find out that many of them are ready to eat.
“For example, when the mother is about to put something in her mouth, you see them reaching out to take that. You can just begin by giving them very little. When we say start complementary feeding, we don’t mean for the mother to set out a big bowl.
“At the initial stage, all the mother needs is just a teaspoon of the complementary food and you still breastfeed till the child gets used to it and as time goes on you keep increasing the quantity. At that early stage, you can give two or three times in addition to breast milk.
“But as the child gets older, you begin to increase the number. We advise that you continue breastfeeding as it is recommended that breastfeeding should continue for up to two years and beyond if the mother is able to do that.
Benefits of breastfeeding
“Malnutrition is not limited to only the poor. Once a woman is married and decides to have babies, she should make up her mind to pay attention to her nutrition as well as make better choices of what to eat.
“For the short term health benefits of breastfeeding, a mother must know that the child is prone to fever infection, gastrointestinal disorder, lower risk of sudden infant death syndrome, emotional bonding etc.
“For the long term, the child enjoys improved growth and development, higher intelligence quotient (IQ), lower risk of obesity, more emotionally secure, improved cardiovascular disease through life, lower childhood cancer including leukaemia and so on.
Water or herbs during
breastfeeding
“For mothers that give the child water or any sort of concoction when they’re supposed to exclusively breastfeed the child must understand that the breast milk has all the water and what it takes to protect the child from diseases.
“In terms of water, when you look at the breast milk; the breast milk has been analysed. It has about 88 per cent of water, which means most of it is water and it’s just the remaining little quantity that is semi solid.
“In a hot climate like Nigeria, the water therein is adequate for the child. Indeed, the breast milk itself is such that the first one that comes out is called the fore milk is basically water.
“It quenches the thirst before the mid and the hind milk begins to come which satisfies the child. There’s no need to add water. All that the baby needs is breast milk which contains all of the nutrients and all of the water.
“Also, when you talk about giving concoction, usually, in this setting, it is regarded as a preventive measure to prevent the child from diseases and all other illnesses. But it is important for mothers to understand that the breast milk itself has antibodies that protect the child.
“Actually early initiation ensures first immunisation for that child because the yellowish milk that comes out; called colostrum, has a lot of antibodies in it that protects the child.
“Breast milk actually serves as immunisation for the child but that does not mean that the child should not get their regular immunisations so you do exclusive but you also give the child their regular routine immunisation.
Caesarean Section (CS)
mothers
“For mothers who have CS and are unable to breastfeed their child within the first to three days after birth can actually still breastfeed or initiate early breast milk within one hour. However, they need support from the healthcare workers.
“The healthcare workers, especially those in the maternity ward or theatre where the baby is delivered need to be trained as to be able to support mothers and encourage them to initiate exclusive breastfeeding. CS should not be a hindrance to exclusive breastfeeding.
Advice to intending mothers
“I would suggest for mothers to ensure that before they get pregnant, they should protect their own health by having a healthy diet, eat nutritious meals to ensure that they are in good standing in terms of their nutritional status.w
“I say this because when they get pregnant, the baby depends on them for all the nutrients they need and if they don’t get it, their growth and development would be hindered and that child would come into the world disadvantaged. A mother needs to be sure to protect her own health by eating nutritious meals.
“She should also take her recommended supplement like iron and folic acid that would protect her, for example; the multiple micronutrients supplements that have all of the other minerals micronutrients that the mother needs.
“She should protect her own health and ensure she’s healthy for her sake and the sake of the child because the child’s nutrients supplies come exclusively from the mother.”
