01 July
A BOUT29.3 per cent of children in Myanmar are stunted in their growth due to malnutrition, according to a report. Malnutrition strikes in the period from when the mother first gets pregnant to when the child reaches the age of 2 years old, or in other words, the first 1000 days of the child’s life.
Poverty and the inability to purchase nutritional food, inadequate nutritional knowledge, and misconceptions that prevent the consumption of certain food essential for growth are some of the causes for malnutrition and stunted growth compared to other children of the same age and gender in the long run.
Malnutrition is the cause of stunted growth for 1.6 per cent of children in Myanmar and is more common in rural areas than in larger urban locations. Chin State and Rakhine State are two of the least developed states in Myanmar and have the highest rate of stunted growth at 58 per cent and 50 per cent respectively.
Malnutrition just doesn’t affect physical growth or stature, it also stunts the mental development of children. This can lead to ill health, low immunity systems, difficulty keeping up with academic subjects, and memory retention difficulties that have prevented children from completing school and consequently make it difficult to find employment when they come of age.
It is important to conduct nutritional awareness campaigns in both urban and rural areas including villages. It would be equally effective to teach them how to gain the correct amount of nutrients from sources of food that are easily available where they live. The first 1,000 days are important and the mother needs to eat the required nutrition during pregnancy, only feed babies the mother’s milk up to 6 months of age, and then compliment with other nutritional food later on.
Supplementing food need to be fed from three categories – (1) food that gives energy, (2) food that promotes healthy growth, and (3) food that aids against illnesses. These three groups of food need to be included in the daily diet.
Starchy food such as rice, wheat, corn, potato, taro root, yam, sweet potato, honey, and sugar that contain carbohydrates and vegetable oil and animal fats give energy. Meanwhile, meat, fish legumes, chicken eggs, duck eggs and quail eggs promote healthy growth while vegetables and fruits that are rich in vitamins and minerals and succulents help ward of sickness.
Children can start joining the family dinner table at the age of 1 and do not essentially require a separate special diet so their development can be handled in a slightly more lenient manner after their first 1,000 days.
Poverty or a lack of education are not the main contributors of malnutrition, rather they are mostly caused by a lack of information on nutrition or proper care of the child, according to nutritionists. We need to raise awareness on nutrition to mothers in rural areas so that they consume a nutrient-rich healthy diet and feed their children in the same manner so that the next generation that will lead our nation will come out healthy and strong.
