Effects Of Malnutrition In Child Development

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Introduction:
Human developments are governed by two main factors: genetics and environment. Nutrition is one of the most crucial aspects of the environment. Malnutrition during the fetal development and the childhood can have potentially devastating consequences in the long run. Preventive measures need taken, both in local and national levels, to address this crucial issue.
Summary of the provided article:
Nutrition is one of the most influential non genetic factors in prenatal development. If the mother is exposed to famine during prenatal development, there is a high chance of the child having an increased risk of several types of diseases and disorders. Such association is found to be specific for periconceptional exposure, considering …show more content…

India is considered as one of such countries where malnutrition is common in one form or the other. First of all, poverty causes parents to not be able to provide kids and themselves with enough food when they are hungry. Secondly, the quality of food they can afford, leaves another perceptual problem that we can refer to as: hidden hunger, or the deficiency of essential nutrients in adequate proportions in the food being consumed. Young children tend to be in a higher risk of chronic diseases, delayed growth and sexual maturation, to name a few, as consequences of chronic malnutrition in childhood and infancy. Similar consequences are faced by the children who are exposed to malnutrition prenatally. The iron deficiency disorder leaving a huge population of all ages suffering from goiter, neurological deficit and cretins, zinc deficiency resulting in impaired immunity leading to infections are two of the most prevalent types of malnutrition observed there in people. This shows that, lack of nutrition has consequences not only through the malnourished mom, but also in children, and adults including non pregnant moms, exposed to malnutrition. (Mishra et al., 2017, p. …show more content…

Proper nutrition is crucial to the growth of brain’s structure, it’s effective functioning, and maturation. Children brains grow much faster than adults, in fact, most of the brain development occurs in early childhood. Proper nutrient supply in the body fuels the effective growth of the brain, including the brain. If an element is missing from the diet, then it is more than likely that there will be an effect on the behavior due to such malnutrition, even though there might possibly be other factors acting on the side too. (Coursin et al., 1972, p.

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