Investing in Nutrition for the under 5s - Essay Example

INVESTING IN NUTRITION FOR THE UNDER 5’S by There are many important reasons that would make a country invest in nutrition for children under the age of five years. Healthy children prevent future occurrences of getting sick and boost intelligence among the children. Effects like these can be proven in the long-time consequences of the famine of Ethiopia in 1984 (Dercon & Porter, 2014:927). Thirty-one years after the famine adverse effects can be seen in the children who were affected and are now adults. First, they tend to be shorter than those who were not affected by three centimetres. This difference in height is clearly seen today. Most are also likely to have experienced illnesses and then died at an early age. The research also shows that this lead to income loses in their lifetime. This may lead one to believe that investing in older children’s education is also worth as compared to nutrition. This paper will discuss the rationale for investing in nutrition for the under 5’s and argue that this does not lead to the conclusion that it is not worth investing in education interventions for older children. Healthy children get smart brains. Hence, they get educated well and bring income to a country. When the younger generation is educated, it may invest in the future businesses of a country. This may lead to the creation of a higher national income in the economy. Another advantage would be a reduction of poverty in the future. This is because as this is a younger generation when grown up they would be well prepared to create businesses. Investing in older children’s education should thus be encouraged (Naudeau, 2011:3). Investing on nutrition of children under the age helps children are healthy to be healthy and prevents mental retardation. Mental illnesses bring adult diseases to these individuals when they grow older later in their lives and makes children to be slow learners. Research evidence shows that adult illnesses are more prevalent among those who experienced adverse problems when they were young. This thus shows early life interventions among children should be done to promote heath of individuals. Apart from retardation, bad health also leads to physically challenged children. This hence makes them reluctant to work thus reducing how they work. This issue in turn makes them fail to bring income to a country and to themselves too (Kogali & Krafft, 2015:3). It also helps in preventing certain illnesses that may affect them in future. An example of the illnesses that are associated with poor early childhood nutrition is obesity. The graph used to measure BMI shows that BMI z scores at different times in childhood among people. Children who had high BMI z scores at childhood later became patients of severe obesity in childhood. When they become adults, they develop an illness such as hypertension that lowers their activities. Early nutrition would prevent such problems among people creating a healthy hardworking society. Well-fed children who are active in the class would be more intelligent and might complete school early and start contributing to a society. This is in comparison to mentally retarded children who would take longer periods in schools and, therefore, may not contribute to the society. Despite the fact that investing in the nutrition of under 5’s is important, it does not mean that investing in the education of children above that age is less important. Education has many benefits to children as they grow up both to themselves and to society (Naudeau, 2011:3). Educating children reduces poverty among in the society because it established a background for them to understand important concepts and prepare them for different professions. This is because educated children acquire skills that make them be employed after completing their education. The children also acquire knowledge and skills that would enable them to start their own jobs after school. This would raise the income of these individuals and raise the standards of living among the people. Declined poverty in a society creates a healthy society that the standards of living are high. However, this cannot happen when investment is not done for the education of children from age 5 onwards. Investing on education for young children offers disadvantaged families a chance to educate their children, thereby created equal access to early human development especially psychological development because of the exposure to learning activities. This ensures that all children develop their mental capabilities at a younger age (The Heckman Equation | Heckman, n.d.). Investing in the education of children above five years old helps to develop their thinking and creativity that is essential both at a young age and in future. Educated children can think and act wisely, for instance when playing, forming friendships and in understanding the wrong from the right (Kogali & Krafft, 2015:5). Investing in the education of older children helps to curb the dependence ratio of children or school dropouts to the working class people in future. An illiterate society can lead to high dependency ratio to the people who are working to feed them or provide them other basic needs. This number of dependents can be declined by investing quality education to the older children. This investment would create more jobs for these children hence making them depend on themselves and not others. It would also create more money for those independent on them to create investments and increase the national income of a country, thereby improving the economy of a country. Illiteracy in a country would be reducing d when high-quality education is invested in the children. This then brings about better ways of living among the people who are now literate and learned. The literate also prove to be healthier than the illiterate are. This is because they have learned new styles of taking care of themselves. Their new styles of living make them start living healthy (Kogali & Krafft, 2015:5). In conclusion, investing in the nutrition of under 5’s and the education of over 5’s is equally important. Research has shown that early nutrition in children ensures good health for children. It also prevents adults becoming sick because of poor feeding when they were young. Good nutrition among children also prevents mental retardation among children. Educating of the older children over five years of age in a society comes about with several advantages. These include a reduction in poverty and illiteracy in a society. It also ensures the educated become dependent on the society. Reduction in poverty makes the citizens living in a country start living lives of higher standards. It also means that the children have acquired knowledge and skills that make them obtain jobs or start their jobs to earn a living. Investing quality education in children prevents dependency to the working population. After acquiring a job when they become adults, they can provide for themselves rather than depend on others. They also learn ways of knowing how to earn rather than when they were illiterate. Considering the advantages, more quality education should be promoted among older children. Reference List Dercon, S., & Porter, C., 2014. Live Aid Revisited: Long‐Term Impacts of the 1984 Ethiopian Famine on Children. Journal of the European Economic Association, 12(4), 927-948. Kogali, S. & Krafft, C., 2015.Expanding opportunities for the next generation: early childhood development in the Middle East and North Africa. Washington, DC: World Bank Group. Naudeau, S., 2011. Investing in young children an early childhood development guide for policy dialogue and project preparation. Washington, DC: World Bank. The Heckman Equation | Heckman., n.d.. Retrieved from http://heckmanequation.org/heckman-equation Read More