The role of nutrition in integrated early child development in the 21st century: contribution from the Maternal and Child Nutrition journal

Abstract

Even though it is widely recognized that early childhood development (ECD) is one of the most important predictors of future social capital and national productivity, the recently published ECD Lancet Series reports that about 250 million children under 5 years are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential, mainly as a result of poverty and social injustice. So why is this and what will it take to reverse this situation? The purpose of this special issue is to highlight important contributions from previously published articles in Maternal & Child Nutrition to the field of nutrition and ECD. The collection of papers presented in this special issue collectively indicates that although nutrition-specific interventions are essential for child development, they are not sufficient by themselves for children to reach their full developmental potential. This is because ECD is influenced by many other factors besides nutrition, including hand washing/sanitation, parenting skills, psychosocial stimulation, and social protection. Future research should focus on mixed-methods implementation science seeking to understand how best to translate evidence-based integrated ECD packages into effective intersectoral policies and programs on a large scale. In addition to health and nutrition, these programs need to consider and include responsive parenting (including responsive feeding), learning stimulation, education, and social protection. Future studies should also address if and how childhood obesity affects human physical, socioemotional, and cognitive development.

Conhecimento e adesão à doação de leite humano de parturientes de um hospital público

“…Alguns desses fatores justificam a doação para RNs que não podem receber o leite de suas mães. O primeiro se deve à presença de ácidos graxos poli-insaturados de cadeia longa, considerados essenciais para o desenvolvimento cerebral e da retina, principalmente logo no início da vida, e as fórmulas lácteas comercializadas atualmente são isentas desses lipídeos (PÉREZ-ESCAMILLA; MORAN, 2017).…”

“…Outro fator está relacionado às propriedades biológicas do leite humano, que podem promover um melhor desenvolvimento motor e intelectual, e o uso de leite de outras espécies podem desenvolver alterações imunológicas e gástricas. Em terceiro lugar, o AME parece ter efeito protetor contra a obesidade infantil, considerada uma epidemia moderna, gerando grandes consequências psicossociais e fisiopatológicas para a criança (BRASIL, 2015;PANCZUK et al, 2016;PÉREZ-ESCAMILLA;MORAN, 2017).…”

A quantitative cross-sectional survey of psychosocial stimulation and counselling interventions at nutritional rehabilitation units in Southern Malawi

“…According to the Ministry of Health in Malawi, nurses and homecraft workers are to counsel caregivers and give psychosocial support [10][11][12] . Integrated interventions that include nutrition and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions, promotion of responsive caregiving and psychosocial stimulation, and support for caregivers can promote better nutritional status and development in all children [13][14][15][16][17][18][19] . This is particularly relevant for children with SAM who have been shown to have poor developmental and nutritional outcomes, as well as high risk of mortality, after inpatient treatment at NRUs 20,24 .…”

A mixed methods feasibility study of the Kusamala Program at a nutritional rehabilitation unit in Malawi

“…Furthermore, there are recommendations for psychosocial stimulation within NRU settings, but it is not clear that these interventions are being provided effectively [ 13 , 22 , 25 ]. There is also still a limited understanding of how best to implement behavior change interventions of nutrition and feeding and how effective such programs could be at improving developmental and nutritional outcomes particularly in children with SAM who may benefit most [ 5 , 26 , 27 ]. Finally, in children with SAM and acute illnesses, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) becomes an important piece related to developmental and nutritional outcomes [ 28 , 29 ].…”

“…Finally, in children with SAM and acute illnesses, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) becomes an important piece related to developmental and nutritional outcomes [ 28 , 29 ]. However, nutrition interventions incorporating WASH for children with SAM are scarce at the present time [ 5 , 28 ].…”