A 1000 Days Makes All the Difference
by Olajumoke
August 7, 2018
1947
The first 1000 days of life of a child is very important in overall development. How the can we optimize this short period?
Every woman hopes to have a healthy baby and ensure the baby is healthy and strong throughout the growing years till adulthood. A lot of women, however, don’t know how to achieve this. The first 1000 days of a child’s life is very critical, it begins from pregnancy to the second birthday of a child, it is a unique period with windows of opportunities that lay a foundation for healthy and productive future for the child.
How does it work?
The 1st Thousand days is all about ensuring the baby and mother have the right nutrition starting from pregnancy till the 2nd birthday of a child, which means.
- During pregnancy, the mother has to eat the right nutrition so that her baby can grow healthy and have the right nutrients to grow. Women who are well nourished before and during pregnancy are less likely to die during childbirth and have low birth weight children.
- After birth breastfeeding is very important, exclusive breastfeeding for the 1st 6 months of life is very important. Women are encouraged to breastfeed up to 2 years, breastfeeding has a lot of benefits.
- Complementary feeding, the introduction of semi-solids to a baby and this is done alongside breastfeeding.
What are the Benefits of the 1st Thousand Days?
- Build a child’s brain and fuel their growth.
- Improve a child’s school-readiness and educational achievement.
- Reduce disparities in health, education, and earning potential.
- Lower a person’s risk of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease later in life.
- Reduce disparities in health, education, and earning potential.
- Lower a person’s risk of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease later in life.
- Break the intergenerational cycle of poverty.
Reference
Thousand Days. https://thousanddays.org/