While everyone can benefit from a balanced diet brimming with vitamins and minerals, it is especially important for infants and young children to attain ample amounts of these nutrients, as they are essential for healthy physical and cognitive development. Recently, to spread awareness about the dangers of improper nutrition during pregnancy and within the first few years of life, the medical journal The Lancet launched a series on this issue.
According to a press release from ScienceDaily, the series looks at nutrition both in the context of the overall health of the global population and even its economic prosperity.
“This series strengthens the evidence that a nation’s economic advancement is tied to the first 1,000 days of every child’s life,” said John Hopkins University Professor Robert Black, a contributor to the series.
Children who are malnourished early in life are more prone to various illnesses, and may suffer from poorer brain health and development, the source notes. These factors could ultimately make it more difficult for these individuals to succeed professionally later in life, which – in turn – might limit the capabilities of nations where pregnant women and infants don’t have access to the nutrients they need.
In past posts, we’ve discussed specific nutrients that expectant mothers must be sure to consume to promote their child’s brain health, such as iodine. This new series also highlights that parents should be conscientious about the food their little ones consume.
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