The First Thousand Days: a Global Movement Addressing Child Development - Essay Example

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE Students name: Institution: Instructor: Date: HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE The first a thousand days from conception to age two of any child is very important to focus. It is a new field that is radically shaping the understanding of health and hereditary. It is accompanied with material consequences for policy, publics, and concepts of life. A thousand days between a child’s birth and his/her second birthday is usually presented in public media and contemporary epidemiology that is shaped by new knowledge in epigenetic, neuroscience and development origins of health and disease. It is a significant period that the future health and potential of any child. It provides a comprehensive and coordinated intervention to address the needs of indigenous children from conception to the age of two. For this reason, it lays the foundation for their future and well-being. This is possible by the use of early interventions programs during pregnancy and the early months and years of a child. However, some indigenous Australians where these interventions can’t work, end up having children being subjects of poor health and cognitive development. The perceived importance of the first a thousand days has gained popularity as more evidence emerges. For instance, it has a great impact on maternal nutrition on brain development and the neuroscience of infants. Nevertheless, it has also some impact on the capacity of infants to begin structured learning earlier that previously stated. It also has some significance on the long-term impacts of early childhood experiences such as stress and eventually permanently affecting characteristics usually considered genetic. However, the campaign of spreading the importance of the first a thousand days of a child from conception has some social implications such as obesity where children are associated later with overweight. There are also some interventions that assist in this campaign. They include cultural strengthening, family support for those in care, relationship education, community charters for children and intensive baby learning and communication programs (Koletzko, Shamir, Turck & Phillip, 2016).  Nutrition is very important in maternal and child health. Poor maternal nutrition has always been associated with poor maternal and poor fetal outcomes. This is evident because if a mother takes non-nutritious foods, the child will be automatically being malnourished. Additionally, maternal nutrition leads to low birth weights among indigenous children. The reason for this is because intervention cannot work in this group of people. They cannot be taught on the right maternal nutrition to use. Maternal nutrition deficiencies commonly result from inadequate dietary intake of proteins, energy, essential fatty acids, iron, foliate and other micronutrients during pregnancy. The most important nutrient for weight gain is energy. However, it also depends on factors such as increased basal metabolism during pregnancy, physical activity and deficiency of specific nutrients. Neural tube defects have also lead to problems in child births among the indigenous people (Krasnoff, 2013).  The government recognizes the new way of doing things (Lambek, Wong, Brilmayer & Claeys, 2013).  In the recent past, the government did not recognize the existence of indigenous affairs. These types of low expectations always lead to poor outcomes. For this reason, the government is taking a more vigorous and rigorous approach by leveraging what works and improving what doesn’t. Statistics have shown that the life expectancy rates of the indigenous people are high compared to that of the non-indigenous. They also represent a high mortality rate that is observed within a decade. Nevertheless, the government is working on reducing the gap between the indigenous and the non-indigenous. The coming up of healthy homes, safe communities, schooling, economic participation, governance, and leadership are among the government initiatives. Neglect is a very bad situation that a child can experience. It involves a child being left alone without him/her accessing any interaction. Neglect will, in the long run, affect a child’s mental development or rather brain development. Normally, a child’s brain grows if he/she interacts with new things and situations. The brain responds to the child’s ability to gain knowledge and in the process, it develops. Low birth weight is the situation where a newborn weights below the expected weight of a normal newborn. The weight of a child is highly influence by the maternal nutrition. Low birth weight is associated with maternal deficiencies. Lack of enough nutrients, however, affect brain development, and that is why low weight newborns experience slow brain development (Lauwers & Swisher, 2016).  Despite the campaign for this program, there are some social issues that affect its success. An example is family violence. This factor is very evident in indigenous children. They have direct implications for child deaths. Another social issue is parenting. Parents are not aware of how to bring up their children in a way that it will improve their future and well be. Colonization brought about being suppressed in a way that the colonized don’t have a say. Drug abuse by pregnant mothers leads to the particular drugs affecting the unborn in one way or another. The substances in the drugs affect the child development which can lead to disability. Domestic violence is another issue that affects the fetus in the womb. For instance, if a pregnant mother is injured, the unborn absorbs the shock or sometimes die in the injury was too much, so it is a problem. Government policies may not be sufficient enough such that some people are neglected, and therefore, they cannot access the basic needs such as food. As a result, pregnant women of the neglected groups don’t get nutritious foods hence suffering from nutrition deficiencies (McClure, 2006).  Most importantly, there are several interventions that are put in place to support this issue. Such interventions include community charters for child rights, intensive pre-school and baby learning and cultural strengthening. These interventions are put in place to improve early childhood development. However, there are challenges that involved in implementing early life interventions. They include domestic violence, the problem with parenting and government policies. Despite these challenges, solutions can always be made. There is a significance to find out what works in family violence and use a suitable approach that addresses both the emotional and physical violence. Also, the issue with is to teach a parent how they can be good parents who shape the future of a child. The government has a task of improving its policy-making and practice. It should not discriminate a group of people as we see a gap between the indigenous and the non-indigenous (Donnelly& Ward, 2014).  There are current procedures that are used to address the issue of child development. One is the aims and objectives where the purpose of the research is stated. Two is governance where the members who address the issue have some independence. Three is engagement followed by education and capacity building and evaluation. The current interventions are effective in the sense that it improves the nutrition capacity of pregnant women and improve the health of children. As a result, the children develop positively, and their future and wellbeing are built. These issues can be overcome by closing the gap between the indigenous and the non-indigenous people through government policies (Field & Independent Review on Poverty and Life Chances, 2010).  In conclusion, the first a thousand days from conception to age two is very crucial as it shapes the understanding of health and hereditary. We get to know more about the health of a child during this period and its importance. The significance is shown by a worldwide campaign on the issue. It is important in preparing a good future and well-being of any child. Despite the many challenges that might want to slag the campaign down, it is important to ensure that a child’s development is successful. The most important factor in this issue is nutrition. It is the interaction dietary nutrients such as energy, proteins, fatty acids and other micronutrients. They are the major contributors to any development especially child development. Maternal nutrition is the very important in the growth of the unborn and therefore should be observed keenly. Most importantly, the introduction of interventions has assisted in addressing this issue. They have boosted the success of this issue in many ways. Government policy is another factor need to be addressed. Policies are made by legislatures who represent the people. There should be no situation that a group of people is not recognized by the government. In this issue, we see that the indigenous are neglected by the government. Therefore, well-established government policies should be put in place to bridge the gap between these two groups of people. References In Koletzko, B., In Shamir, R., In Turck, D., & In Phillip, M. (2016). Nutrition and growth: Yearbook 2016. In Krasnoff, M. J. (2013). Building partnerships in the Americas: A guide for global health workers. In Lambek, N. C. S., In Wong, A., In Brilmayer, R. L., & In Claeys, P. (2013). Rethinking food systems: Structural challenges, new strategies and the law. Lauwers, J., & Swisher, A. (2016). Counseling the nursing mother: A lactation consultant's guide. Lipshultz, S. E., Messiah, S. E., & Miller, T. L. (2012). Pediatric metabolic syndrome: Comprehensive clinical review and related health issues. London: Springer. In Savage, K. F., In Burgess, A., In Quinn, V. J., & In Osei, A. K. (2015). Nutrition for developing countries. Nestlé Nutrition Workshop, In Black, R. E., In Singhal, A., In Uauy, R., & Nestlé Nutrition Institute,. (2014). International nutrition: Achieving millennium goals and beyond. McClure, N. (2006). The first 1000 days: A baby journal. Seattle, WA: Sasquatch Books Field, F., & Independent Review on Poverty and Life Chances. (2010). The foundation years: Preventing poor children becoming poor adults : the report of the Independent Review on Poverty and Life Chances. London: Cabinet Office. Making a World of Difference: the First 1,000 Days Scientific Symposium, Arabena, K., Howell-Muers, S., Ritte, R., Munro-Harrison, E., & Onemda VicHealth Koori Health Unit. (2015). Making a World of Difference - The First 1,000 Days Scientific Symposium report. Carlton, Vic.: Indigenous Health Equity Unit, Onemda VicHealth Group, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health. National Academy of Sciences (U.S.),. (2010). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Washington, D.C: The Academy In Donnelly, P. D., & In Ward, C. L. (2014). Oxford textbook of violence prevention: Epidemiology, evidence, and policy. Read More