Valerie’s
research study was conducted in Ghana.More information about the event could be found at (http://www.nutritionwithoutborders.com/)
The purpose of her study was to prevent under nutrition and growth stunting of children between the ages of 18 to 24 months. Thus that is when the most important time of growth and development in an individual’s life would occur, and consequently, incomplete development may lead to morbidity and mortality in one’s future life. Growth was an indicator of nutrition status in children in this study. It was shown that many children were not growing because of a deficiency in iron which has a significant role in the cognitive development of a child. Various factors seemed to influence a child’s food intake. These various factors include the quality and diversity of foods available, likewise; different foods are needed for complete child development and the prevention of deficiencies. Additionally, eating frequency and energy density of foods seemed to impact the quantity of foods consumed. As mentioned by Valerie, when energy density increases, breast milk consumption decreases which would have adverse effects on a child’s health throughout life because breast milk is needed especially in the first 18-24 months for full child development. Moreover, maternal education appeared to improve the child’s growth when mothers had an education of 5 years or more. Furthermore, culture believes and wealth seemed to be responsible for infant food intake as well. In Ghana many cultural believed that animal based foods should not be fed to infants under the age of 2.
Wealthy families had less stunted children with a better nutritional status. Valerie’s study was designed to determine how microfinance which are small loans from banks, relate to children’s nutritional status. Microfinances have shown to improve children’s nutrition and reduced health mortality. Many microcredits are offered through banks with an education to all the mothers on basic health, nutrition and business skills. It was determined that microcredit and education to mothers combined together improved nutritional status. The question demonstrated for future studies is whether the education or the microcredit was the factor that improved nutritional status of children.
(http://travel.mongabay.com/ghana/images/ghana_0009.html)
The main objective of Valerie’s study was to determine the association between a woman’s participation in the microcredit and the nutritional status and dietary quality of children. It was exhibited that children with microcredits consumed more diverse foods including dairy, legumes and nuts which are more expensive and energy dense. Yet microcredit only slightly improved nutritional status through dietary diversity, but diversity of foods is known to increase overall health. However, children with educated mothers seemed to have better nutritional status. Overall, diversity of foods and maternal education are needed for improved nutritional status in children.
The main objective of Valerie’s study was to determine the association between a woman’s participation in the microcredit and the nutritional status and dietary quality of children. It was exhibited that children with microcredits consumed more diverse foods including dairy, legumes and nuts which are more expensive and energy dense. Yet microcredit only slightly improved nutritional status through dietary diversity, but diversity of foods is known to increase overall health. However, children with educated mothers seemed to have better nutritional status. Overall, diversity of foods and maternal education are needed for improved nutritional status in children.
Your blog post was great because it helped me see how the issue of malnutrition is a complex one that requires more consideration than I originally thought. I thought that your writing had great flow that made for clear understanding of the topic.
ReplyDelete