CHFD308 Week 6 Discussion Part II

Classmate #1 :

Hello everyone,

Part One

Nutrition has a great impact on child development. Good nutrition at an early age supports the health of a child’s growth. This is crucial for a child to grow up healthy to live their best life. Optimal nutrition during pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood offers health benefits that can last a lifetime. My husband and I are quite health-conscious people, and those habits follow down to our children. We stay away from junk food as much as we can and incorporate more fruits and vegetables in our daily intake. Due to this, this has become a norm for our children, and it has impacted their health positively. Different lifestyles have impacts on children such as having busy parents. The food industry benefits from busy parents who are looking for a quick and easy way to feed their family. Speaking from experience, my family sometimes eats takeout on Monday evenings due to that day being our busiest day with both of our kids having sports and choir practice after school. Their events finish later in the day, and it is often too late for me to cook dinner, so on the way home I stop and grab fast food. I feed my family fast food in moderation because ultimately, I believe it is an unhealthy choice. Fallows &Wheelock (1985) mention that the government is responsible for providing direct information on foods and nutrition. Schools also supply students with appropriate healthy food and beverage choices.

Part Two

Infectious diseases can cause serious harm or even be the cause of death for many infants, children, and adults. Without proper immunizations, an individual is at risk of becoming gravely ill or even dying from diseases such as measles. A concern that parents should have when it comes to immunization should be about the reaction after. As a precaution, after my children get immunized, we are asked to wait in the clinic for 15 minutes in the event of an allergic reaction occurring. According to Damnjanovic et. al (2018), the impact of false claims may increase by contracting vaccine-preventable diseases. It also impacts the trust in the capacities of healthcare systems to protect people.

References

Damnjanović, K., Graeber, J., Ilić, S., Lam, W. Y., Lep, Ž., Morales, S., Pulkkinen, T., & Vingerhoets, L. (2018). Parental Decision-Making on Childhood Vaccination. Frontiers in Psychology, 9(735). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00735

Fallows, S. J., & Wheelock, J. V. (1985). Role of government in food supply. Nutrition and Health, 3(4), 247–254. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4069467/#:~:text=I…

Classmate #2:

Week 6 Discussion
Part one – The impact of nutrition on a child’s development
One of the things that impact a child’s overall development is nutrition.
Nutrition is incredibly important in children, especially from birth to two years old. Breastfeeding for the first two years of life can boost the child’s immune system and brain development, while also providing the body with necessary nutrients, etc. until they are able to consume foods that are nutritionally balanced (UNICEF). With three out of five infants being exclusively breastfed from birth to six months, many families are not providing children with the necessary nutrients to grow and develop more effectively. It is normal to have a busy lifestyle as a family, unfortunately this is met with foods that are high in grains, sugary drinks, and packaged snacks which are high in sodium, sugar, and fat. Poor diets in children can lead to risks of blindness and even death due to a lack of vitamins and nutrients (UNICEF). The food industry has capitalized on making cheaper, low quality food that is easily accessible, making busy or low income families more likely to lean towards fast food and packaged foods and snacks. The government has instilled “healthier” food choices within schools, but are often still heavily processed.

Part two – Immunizations for children
Babies are born without a fully developed immune system, making their risk of infection significantly higher. Without immunizations that can boost the immune system and create antibodies to disease and illness, the infant can experience serious illness or even death. It is important to vaccinate children in order to help build their natural defenses against illnesses, viruses, and other diseases (CDC). Breastfeeding also boosts an infant’s immune system and promotes quicker recovery times.
References
https://www.unicef.org/nutrition/early-childhood-nutrition
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/why-vaccinate/vaccine-decision.html