EFFECT OF NUTRITION ON GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

. What is growth and development

Growth is a process that focuses on quantitative improvement. For instance, a child visibly
grows in weight and height. Development focuses on both qualitative and quantitative
refinement. For instance, a child's IQ increases with the growing age

Feeding is the eating or ingestion of food basically for the provision of nutrients to the
body for growth and development as well as energy. Food is therefore what is ingested into
the body while feeding is the process of eating the food. It is one of the basic necessities of
life. People do all manner of jobs in other to put food on the table. This is why food is
inevitable in human life. In as much as every living soul eats food, there is noticeably
varying degrees of growth and development in all the people that eat food. One would have
expected uniform growth and development but the reverse is the case. The reason being
that the type of food one eats determines the rate of growth and development. This is why
some people are tall, short, fat, thin and so on. It is truism that hereditary plays some part
in the growth and development of an individual but the type of food plays a greater part in
that direction.
Good nutrition for children is essential to achieve their full developmental potential.
Undernutrition has critical consequences for physical and cognitive growth and development.
Malnutrition leads to failure in early physical growth, delayed motor skills, cognitive and
behavioural development; it diminishes immunity and increases morbidity and mortality. Those
children who survived malnutrition in early childhood have disadvantages compared to those
who have had adequate nutrition and a healthy living environment

Importance of Nutrition for healthy life

 For good health & body development during the early years of life, it is important to have
proper nutrition for children.
 In case children do not eat the right amount of macronutrients such as protein, fat, and
carbohydrates and micronutrients such as vitamin A, iodine, iron and zinc, in that
scenario they can become ill or may develop mental health issues.
 Optimal nutrition and correction of nutritional deficiencies during the early years are of
particular significance as beyond two years of age, and a reversal can become very
difficult.

However, WHO and UNICEF developed the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child
Feeding to improve children’s development, health, and survival through optimum.
Nutrition is the ability to eat right. There are different classes of food but the ability to select
those that inspire good health and personal wellbeing is known as nutrition or balance diet.

Nutrition promotes human growth and development which is the increase in both physical and
psychological dimension in all human being.

Nutrition is the study of the effects of food and drink we take into our body in relation to
balanced diet that nourishes the body, repairs worn out tissues and provides energy to the body.

Children who suffer from malnutrition are exposed to communicable diseases which hampers
participatory schooling.

Balanced diet is the selection of all the necessary food nutrients in the right proportion. Good
nutrition invigorates healthy living and barricades infectious diseases while poor nutrition
exposes one to communicable diseases, retarded growth and development as well as some
psychological problems .

EFFECT ON GROWTH AND NUTRITION

They are: physical, effect on nervous system, malnutrition, obesity and emotional stress

PHYSICAL EFFECTS
Inadequate nutrition for children during infancy, childhood or adolescence can restrict growth;
weaken immunity, and increase infections and diseases.

Undernutrition begins with conception itself due to maternal under-nutrition. It can lead to the
delivery of low birth-weight babies

EFFECT ON THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

 Delay in cognitive and motor functions

 Impaired school performance
 Poor memory
 Learning disorders
 Reduced social skills
 Lower IQ scores

.
 MALNUTRITION
Almost one child out of six does not have enough food to lead the healthy and active life. Hunger
and malnutrition represent the primary risk for individual health

The main causes that can be traced are;

Poverty,

War,

Natural disasters

Inadequate or scarce infrastructure and farming equipment, and overexploitation of the

environment.

Economic, financial crisis and food crisis has further complicated this scenario, contributing to
an increase in the number of malnourished individuals.

These lead to conditions or diseases such as

 AIDS

 Malaria

 Tuberculosis

 Death mostly in children less five years of age

 Underweight due acute or chronic food shortage

. Some child malnutrition is inherited often from poor maternal diet, both before and during
pregnancy.

Newborns who survive despite low birth weight tend to suffer from retarded/limited growth and
cognitive development, and are more susceptible to infectious diseases, both during childhood
and adolescence and adulthood.

There is connection between malnutrition in early years, ie period of pregnancy, with

subsequent development of chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart
disease.

OBESITY
Overweight and obesity have resulted in a series of physical and psychological consequences
such as ;

Both metabolic (glucose intolerance, high blood pressure) and non-metabolic in nature, such as
osteoarticular (articular pain, reduced mobility, flat feet),

and psychological pathologies (poor body image, eating disorders, depression).

Obesity involves emotional, social and psycho-social consequences that are significant for
children and adolescents.

There is a risk of depression and anxiety.

Overweight children have lower self-esteem and are more likely to decrease their social and
psychological development.

They are more susceptible to behaviour with a negative health impact, such as drinking and
smoking

In addition, children who have been overweight/obese are more susceptible to cardio-circulatory
(high blood pressure, heart disease), muscular-skeletal (early development of arthritis due to
static-dynamic stress) and cancer of the gastrointestinal tract.

Also, the in Obesity adolescence is connected with metabolic diseases and in adulthood with
higher overweight and obesity in adolescents constitute a serious nutritional problem that tends,
with high probability, to carry over into adult life.

EMOTIONAL STRESS

Emotional stress is associated with food fads and weight-loss trends, especially in girls, whic h
can lead to a relationship with food that is not serene and balanced

Children are facing emotional stress because of lack of energy and specific nutrients which they
require.

The stress and emotional anxiety typical of the adolescent years can negatively impact teenagers’
nutritional equilibrium, resulting in insufficient or excessive food consumption.

In addition, infections, emotional tension, menstruation and teeth or skin problems can influence
appetite and increase the vulnerability of adolescents whose diet must be such as to properly
meet the caloric demands of their bodies.