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| Pic Of Workshop - First 1000 Days for Creative Mind |
A discussion was organised in Gurugram on many important issues related to parenting in the presence of Consultant Nutrition Manjari Chandra, Consultant Nutrition, Multi-Speciality Centre.
In the first 1000 days, your baby grows more than the entire remainder
of their life. In the first year alone, your baby’s weight triples and
height increases by 50%. What’s more, a staggering
80% of their brain and cognitive development is complete by their second
birthday, with their brain size tripling from birth to two years; Babies
are born with immature immune systems and it takes upto 2 years to strengthen
it.
With a pace like that, it is no
surprise that the food they eat shapeshow your baby grows and develops in the
first 2 years. There are changes you can see, and changes that you can’t. But
the one thing that is clear, is that your baby needs a whole lot of nutrition
during this time, more so than at any
other time in their life.
But did you know, that what your baby eats in the first two years, determines your baby’s potential for the rest of their life?
The right kinds of food
have the power to ensure your baby reaches their full potential when it comes
to physical growth, learning capacity and also ensure that your baby isn’t
susceptible to illness as a child and as an adult.
If your baby doesn’t get the
right kind of nutrition that meets all their requirements, there are very real risks of irreversible damage to their brain
development and physical growth.
What does your baby need for this rapid growth and development ?
Your baby needs two kinds of
nutrients: macro nutrients and micro nutrients.
Macro nutrients are responsible
for providing energy and aid physical growth and development. For example,
proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Essentially this is development we can see
with our eyes.
What you can’t see developing
within the baby are the brain & immunity growth and development. These are
fuelled by the micro nutrients which your baby needs &are very important
during this phase. Vitamins and minerals are micro nutrients. Iron, zinc,
vitamin A for example, aid in brain development and immunity.
The green & white revolutions
in India during the 60s, 70s & the 80s has been instrumental in delivering
high quality macro nutrient rich food for a large population of India &
health indicators for macro nutrients have gone up. But micro nutrients still
remain an issue wherein India needs a micro nutrient revolution to make sure
every child is able to meet their potential.
Micro nutrients need special attention in the first 2 years because any micro nutrient deficiencies during this time could lead to impaired cognitive development and affect immunity. This affects brain growth and immunity and leads to reduced learning capacity later in life and can also make your baby more susceptible to infections throughout life.
Your baby’s milestones are a source of great pride and a sense of achievement. With the right amount of macro nutrients, the physical milestones are obvious to the eye. But because you can’t see the consequences of micro nutrients deficiency immediately, most people tend to miss out on ensuring that their babies get enough micro nutrients.
How do you ensure that your baby gets the right nutrition in this critical stage?
In the first six months,
breast milk is the gold standard & is sufficient to meet your baby’s needs.
Once your baby turns six months, breast milk needs to be supported by other
foods.
When starting
off on solid foods, your baby can’t take in more than a few spoonfuls of food.
This, as you know, is because your baby’s stomach is incredibly small. It is
the size of their tiny fist, which is only 20% of the size of an adult’s
stomach.The surprising part, though, is that while
theirstomach size is so much smaller, they actually need more nutrition than
adults to support their incredible growth rate. Babies need 5 times more
nutrition than adults at this stage.
So the limited amount of food that the baby
eats needs to provide all that the baby requires.While breast milk still
continues to provide partial nutrition to your baby, the other foods you give bear
the huge responsibility to bridge the gap that breast milk can’t fill.
How are these complementary solid foods doing in meeting your baby’s requirements?
Indian diets are majorly grain and plant based, with little to no intake of
pulses and green leafy vegetables. These diets are high in macro nutrients but
are very low in micro nutrients, iron, zinc and calcium.
This is a cause for concern because the percentage of these
nutrients that need to be met by complementary foods is extremely high. 98% of your baby’s iron and 72% of your
baby’s zinc needs should be fulfilled through complementary food but our
Indian diets are insufficient to do so.
Gaps in micro nutrient delivery is
the highest when your baby is moving from exclusive breast milk to
complementary feeds, because the needs are going up whereas delivery is going
down at the same time.
Couple this with the size of your
baby’s stomach, and it becomes next to impossible to meet their needs through
regular food. For example, to meet the
daily requirement of Iron for a 6-12 month old child, the mother would have to
feed 9 bowls of spinach puree!
*% of RDA to be sourced from complementary foods.
So how do you manage your baby’s micro nutrient needs?
You need to give your baby small quantities of food that are
packed with more nutrients than your regular food. Nutrient dense foods or complete foods that are fortified with minerals
& vitamins like iron, zinc etc. so that your baby can get all they need in
the amount of food that they can actually eat. Iron plays a very important role in your baby’s brain
development and cognition and iron and zinc help in the development of your
baby’s immunity. Fortified cereals and
foods have been found to be the most effective way of ensuring that there are
no micro nutrient deficiencies in children.
In addition to fortified/complete foods, you need to ensure diversity of food groups in your baby’s
diet by including foods from all food groups on a daily basis for a balanced
diet. Supplements are a solution to tackle the issue, and you can
give supplements of various vitamins & minerals after consulting your paediatrician.
Hence you could use fortified food like Atta, Salt etc.
readily available in the market to ensure your baby gets the right nutrition
for his/her proper development.
In fact, 2 bowls of fortified cereals a day bridge the
nutrition gap in your baby’s diet
By ensuring that your couple fortified foods with your
baby’s regular diet of homemade foods, you can rest assured that your baby’s
nutrition needs are fully met.
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