Group Nutrition Training for Mothers in Timor-Leste
(Community Development Education Activity).
In Timor-Leste there are many cases of child and maternal mortality and high malnutrition because mothers lack knowledge about health issues and the benefits of heath intervention (World Food Programme, 2014). Timor-Leste has a higher prevalence of malnourished children than other countries in Asia (OXFAM Australia, 2014). In Timor-Leste children are mainly vulnerable, there are 47% of children under the age of five suffer from chronic malnutrition (OXFAM Australia, 2014). Malnutrition weakens the immune system and can lead to a heightened risk of illness and disease (OXFAM Australia, 2014).
With all of these child and mother health issues Timor-Leste, there is a need to have special health education groups for providing training to mothers about nutrition in Timor-Leste. Malnutrition is not only about food. To prevent and treat malnutrition effectively, you need a broad approach which also tackles other problems such as poor access to basic health services and inappropriate feeding and caring practices of children (World Food Programme, 2014).
A large part of the World Food Programs (WFP) nutritional work is directed at mothers and young children (World Food Programme, 2014). When a woman is pregnant her body has special nutritional needs. After she has given birth, she has a greater need for energy and also for the nutrients that make her breast milk nourishing to her baby
Breastfeeding is the single most effective nutritional strategy for protecting infants against infections and diseases. Three mechanisms have been proposed by which human milk constituents protect the infant from infection. Two are based on the immunologic constituents of human milk and the third is its high nutrient value. (National Academy Press, 1992) In LDCs the health of many children are significantly impaired, sometimes permanently, by the lack of nutrition they received during the breastfeeding phase. Breastfeeding requires a mother to have a specific diet. In the industrialized countries of the
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Nutritional Services is a federal program that provides health care and proper nutrition to low income pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women during a crucial time for both mothers and babies. The mission of WIC is to “safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutrition risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating, and referrals to health care.” (Food and Nutrition Service, 2010).
Good nutrition is key to developmental growth, especially during pregnancy and early childhood. Unfortunately, not every family has adequate access to nutritious foods. For these families, the Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) can provide that support. At the WIC clinic, the nurse plays a vital role in ensuring that eligible families receive services and that these services are accessible.
Since the beginning of time, the birth of a baby was a sign of a new life, and within today’s society, many of those lives start within a hospital with the assistance of different medical staff. Now, every family and parent is different in regards to the upbringing of their future child well before their birth, and in order to protect and support this idea; different programs were established within Canada. The Canadian Prenatal Nutrition Program which was established in 1995 can be considered one, as they work to provide support to the health and wellbeing of pregnant women within different communities. Within their program some prominent goals mentioned are: to improve maternal-infant health, increase birth weight rate, and promote breastfeeding
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a federally funded public health nutrition program that provides various services to income-eligible women, breast feeding or postpartum women, infants, and children up to age 5 years old. The WIC program provides nutritional education and counseling, nutritious foods, breastfeeding support, and health care referrals if applicable to applicants. This program has been effective in the reduced rate of premature births, low birth weight babies, fetal and infant deaths, incidence of low iron (anemia), improved diet quality, increased immunization rates, increased consumption of key nutrients by pregnant women, and an increase access to earlier prenatal care.
Within this assignment I am going to look at the main nutritional needs for pregnant women and adolescents and discuss the similarities and differences between their nutritional requirements.
“What does malnutrition look like? Most of us think of bloated bellies or skin and bones, but the appearance of a hungry child might surprise you. Internationally hunger often stunts growth. Imagine a 9-year-old who appears to be only 5” (“Feed the Children.” Feed). Almost 1 billion kids worldwide live in poverty and 1 in 4 children around the world suffer from malnutrition that stunts growth (“Feed the Children.” Give). This is a very big problem not only in America but everywhere else, malnutrition is the cause of almost half of child deaths each year around the world (“Feed the Children.” Give). It is close to impossible for a malnourished child to recover from diarrhea or to fight off a small illness because their immune system is just simply too weak (“Feed the Children.”
Food insecurity can be defined as the lack of access to adequate food, limited by money and other resources. Guatemalan people are unfortunately a perfect example of people living with food insecurities. With majority of the population living in poverty and the country as a whole often experiencing draught and less than ideal weather conditions, many adults and children are malnourished and the children are mostly stunted. Guatemala is currently facing a interesting malnutrition problem. Malnutrition in Guatemala is affecting localized farmers outside of the city.
The Women Infant and Children (WIC) Supplemental Nutrition Program is a supplemental food and nutrition program for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women and children under age five who have a nutriThe Women, Infant and Children Supplemental Nutritional Program’s primary goals are to provide supplemental food and nutrition to women of a lower income who are pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum and children under age 5.
A large problem of childhood poverty is malnutrition. Since these children are growing up in poverty, many of the parents have a hard time supplying food for their kids. Surprisingly, there
“Breastfeeding is an unequalled way of providing ideal food for the healthy growth and development of infants; it is also an integral part of the reproductive process with important implications for the health of mothers” Statement taken from the world health organization publication on the nutrition of exclusive breastfeeding.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world. Even though the number of children suffering from global acute malnutrition has decreased from 16% in 2001 to 11% in 2010, the rates remain exceptionally high. In 2012, 63.6% of the population live in extreme poverty, living on less than a dollar each day. Infant mortality in the DRC is 73.15/1,000. Among these deaths, half of them are as a result of malnutrition.
Any infant enters the world completely relying on their mother, whether it’s to provide security, comfort, or their first meal. Breastfeeding, although pretty self-explanatory, is the act of a woman feeding a baby with milk from her breast. It is recommended that a baby be breastfed for the first time within an hour of their birth and exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life (Belsky, 2012). However, there is a stigma attached to breastfeeding in some areas of the world, especially the United States, so a common alternative is formula. There are many benefits not only the infant can gain from being breastfed, but also benefits the mother can obtain from providing this nutrition for her child. This paper will discuss
Malnutrition is a serious health concern for people that are residing in Haiti, especially the children. Malnutrition has a serious effect on the body, “children [that] suffer from acute malnutrition are at a great risk for severe morbidity and mortality” (Roller, Gray, Previl, Forrest, 2014, p. 1094). There is no reason for these children to be suffering from malnutrition when there is such a simple solution to fix malnutrition. According to UNICEF the percent of children that are underweight and is considered moderate to severe is 11.4
Among the many fights against poverty, improving children’s’ health is one of the major responsibilities. A healthy child becomes a healthy adult, a person who has the ability to create a better life for them, the people around them, their community, and their countries. One of the core UNICEF objectives is to improve the health of the children of the world.