Childhood is one of the most critical periods of growth where a proper nutrition plays a significant role. Those children who have been reported to have poor nutrition tend to be highly prone to various short-term and long-term health issues (Smith et al., 2003). Research has shown that those kids who are affected by poor nutrition for a long time are at a significantly higher risk for the severe emotional problem, obesity, increased mental problems and tended to perform poorly. It is true that those children who are not able to access a proper nutrition tend to suffer from different psychological disorders including depression and anxiety which impacts their healthy development. Therefore, nutrition affects child development in some ways. The article selected to be critiqued, “The Impact of Nutrition on Child Development at 3 Years in a Rural Community of India” (Ali & Dhaded, 2014). From the title, the independent variable is nutrition while the dependent variable is child development.
From the introduction, it is clear that there is a significant concern in the public health community concerning the apparent drop in the duration and incidence of breastfeeding among developing states. In addition to this, an improved neurodevelopment is closely connected to the frequency of a long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid which is commonly found in the mother’s milk (Ali & Dhaded, 2014). When focusing on the historical background of the research topic, the article traces the child under nutrition prevalence in India. According to Ali & Dhaded, (2014), the author argues that child malnutrition rates specifically in India are the highest globally and doubles the rates of the Sub-Saharan Africa associated with increased cost of productivity, morbidity, economic growth and mortality. One of the research findings used established that, despite the fact that malnutrition among the Indians has dropped significantly particularly in the years the 1990s, the decline seems to be much lower compared to the decline obtained in various states with the equal rate of economic development. The hypothesis of the study is as follows; exclusive breast feeding and better nutrition have a positive impact on child development.
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From the method section, it is clear that the research was conducted under theauspices of the Department of Physiology. The subjects for the study were comprised of children of age years living in India. The sample size used was composed of 530 children, and this was a suitable sample size because the findings could be generalized to the larger population (Ali & Dhaded, 2014). The subjects were evaluated for possible developmental delay using Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) useful in gathering data to respond to the research question. Further, the measurement of growth in addition to the estimation of haemoglobin was conducted during the developmental evaluation. Additionally, the physical development of the subjects was measured with the use of WHO growth chart for weight for height, weight for age and the height for age (Smith et al., 2003). In addition to this, the kids were also evaluated for the time of breastfeeding and the weaning time then examined for possible infection numbers gained against the development result. Lastly, Chi-square was adopted for comparison of the categorical variable.
From the result section, the article used a quantitative statistical procedure. From the graphs, it is clear that higher proportions of the kids, 47.7 percent were exclusively breastfeeding for about 6-12 months. According to Ali & Dhaded, (2014), about 81.7 percent of the mother had begun weaning the kids at twelve months. Further, 97 percent of these children had received nutritional supplements. From the study, it is clear that the p value for fine motor (0.007), problem-solving (0.013), gross motor (0.0040, and communication (0.003) were statistically significant. In the feeding practices versus the development results, the kids who tend to be exclusively breastfed for at least six months were reported to have a higher level of ASQ scored than those who breastfed for fewer than six months (Ali & Dhaded, 2014). The kids who were reported to have weaned for more than twelve months also had high ASQ scores compared to those kids weaned for less than six months in all the domains apart from the gross motor. Regarding the haemoglobin estimation versus the child development outcome, most of the children, 69.2 percent had haemoglobin that was more than 11 g% while those with improved haemoglobin level indicated high score with ASQ. The outcome of the study was all statistically significant in each of the ASQ domain.
Growing kids requires the maximum energy since their bodies tend to absorb the nutrients much faster than in adults. Therefore, it is imperative for the mothers to ensure that they only feed their kids what they perceive as healthy for them. The inclusion of nutritious food and health drinks makes their bodies and minds grow better and stronger. Based on the discussion of the study, the authors established that India is experiencing a higher level of challenge with higher rates of the child under nutrition that results in increased rates of mortality and morbidity. Arguably, under nutrition has been shown to be a primary cause of about 53 percent of the deaths of all under-fives (Ali & Dhaded, 2014). For the children that survive tend to be held within the vicious cycle of an inveterate sickening and wavering development addition to irreversible damage to the individual’s cognitive, motor and social development. According to Ali & Dhaded, (2014), malnourished girls may, later on, become malnourished mothers who will also bear malnourished children if the malnutrition cycle is not broken thus leading to generational effects. Poor nutrition can negatively affect all of the child development from proper brain development, to a growth of muscle tissue, bone formation, healthy vision, hearing, and eyesight, digestion, and all other bodily functions.
The authors further used alternative explanation where it was argued that based on the outcome of the clinical studies and animal research, various nutrients and different forms of elements present in the mother’s milk contributes significantly to mental development’s improvement (Ali & Dhaded, 2014). LCPUFAs that is found in the human milk has a significant impact on the chemical composition of the child’s brain in addition to the enhancement of the cortical and retinal function. This agent can further act directly hence affecting the brain’s biochemistry in addition to the functional growth or can indirectly play a role in the modification of the sensory systems that affect brain development. A balanced diet plays an important part in the development of a kid's health, and this can only be achieved through a balanced diet. Healthy food for kids provides essential vitamins, minerals and other nutritional benefits needed for healthy and efficient growth and development (Ali & Dhaded, 2014).
From the study, it is clear that exclusive breastfeeding is the most suitable measure for child continued existence. Therefore, universalizing early on and exclusive breastfeeding for about 0-6 months is considered as a primary public health strategy to lower child morbidity especially among infants and enhanced development (Guerrant et al., 2008). Evidently, the improvement of the complementary feeding is the core cause of lower anaemia and stunting. Most mothers that took part in the research were reported to have breastfed their children exclusively for about six months (Ali & Dhaded, 2014). According to WHO, mothers should exclusively breastfeed for at least six months. Lack of proper nutrition might make the kid highly vulnerable to communicable illnesses hence making the child more emaciated and do not go through a normal development as a result of lack of necessary nutrients. The study indicated that exclusive breastfeeding is associated with the positive impact on the kid’s growth outcome. In the research, the rising interval of child’ breast feeding is connected to an unswerving and statistically significant rise in the ASQ scores as examined at the age of three years (Ali & Dhaded, 2014). Another similar study also indicated a steady and statistically significant rise in the IQ at the age of 8 to 9 years in addition to both mathematical ability and reading comprehension at the age of 10 to 13. It is evident from the study that breastfeeding is highly related to little but a noticeable rise in the child cognitive capability in addition to educational achievement. There is also a significant relationship between the weaning time and the child neurobehavioral growth (Guerrant et al., 2008).
The research has pointed out significant limitations experienced including: first, the authors did not undertake a covariate investigation to evaluate the diverse sources of the child under nutrition. Secondly, at the screening level, the study indicated that the haemoglobin estimation would be conducted with the use of a more accurate method than the Sahli's method (Ali & Dhaded, 2014). The authors propose that the future study should focus on consequences of employment on various form of feeding practice and a comparative research of the feeding behaviours among the mothers living in both the rural and the urban situation. Additionally, the future research will focus on subjects of up to 2 years since this will give the prevalence of a high incidence of the exceedingly susceptible group such as the urban surroundings with the expectation of the reversible standard neutral development after a timely intervention.
In conclusion, in the article, one can think about the positive effects of nutrition and breastfeeding on the child development. One also can learn that under nutrition significantly affects the motor and the cognitive development which further undermines the educational attainment. The nutrients such as omega three fatty acids have been noted to be pivotal for cognitive development. Children deficient in these nutrients might later on not do well in school and thus jeopardize their prospects. It is evident that the one can easily design a similar study on the same topic because the method used to undertake the research is very clear and can be replicated.
References
Ali, S. S., & Dhaded, S. G. (2014). The impact of nutrition on child development at 3 years in a rural community of India. International journal of preventive medicine , 5 (4), 494.
Guerrant, R. L., Oriá, R. B., Moore, S. R., Oriá, M. O., & Lima, A. A. (2008). Malnutrition as an enteric infectious disease with long-term effects on child development. Nutrition reviews , 66 (9), 487-505.
Smith, M. M., Durkin, M., Hinton, V. J., Bellinger, D., & Kuhn, L. (2003). Influence of breastfeeding on cognitive outcomes at age 6–8 years: follow-up of very low birth weight infants. American Journal of Epidemiology , 158 (11), 1075-1082.
