Adequate Nutrition Is Important For Brain Development

[hsidaros]

1. Explain, in your own words, why adequate nutrition is important to a child’s brain development both before and after their birth and how this might affect each of the domains of development.
Guidance – Make sure you include information about how nutrition and the texture of foods contribute to development

My Answer is:
There is extensive evidence to show that adequate nutrition support brain development and enhance later school performance.
Adequate nutrition for pregnant mothers and infants is necessary for normal brain development. Pregnancy and infancy are important periods for the formation of the brain, laying the foundation for the development of cognitive, motor, and socio emotional skills throughout childhood and adulthood.Undernutrition may influence brain development by directly affecting brain processes or indirectly by affecting children’s experiences and behavior. First, inadequate availability of nutrients during gestation and infancy affects the structural and functional development of the brain. Gestation and infancy are periods of rapid brain development. The neural tube begins to form 16 days after conception and within 7 months takes on a form that resembles the adult brain. Nutrients are required for many of the biological processes that drive this transformation. For example, they are needed for the creation of new neurons. The potential mechanisms through which breastfeeding may improve cognitive development relate both to the composition of breastmilk and to the experience of breastfeeding. Breastmilk contains a suite of nutrients, growth factors, and hormones that are important for brain development, including critical building blocks such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and choline. In high-income countries, school-age children who were breastfed as infants tend to have higher IQs than children who were fed with formula.
Adequate nutrition is important to a child’s brain development during pregnancy and after birth as it provides all the appropriate nutrients e.g. folate, protein, fats, zinc, vitamin A, which is vital for healthy brain development.
When a child is adequately nourished during gestation and infancy, the essential energy, protein, fatty acids, and micronutrients necessary for brain development are available during this crucial period, laying a foundation for lifetime brain function.

Please if anyone can give advice/opinion, thank you

[Lorina]

I think that you have a very good response! Very informative! I knew that breast feeding is very good for a baby but didn't realise how breastfeeding impacts a child's brain development... Now I know, so thank you!

,
Lorina

[hsidaros]

Thank you Lorina you always make me Happy

[Lorina]