Response to Noah Peter
I agree with Noah; there are some recognizable features in the growth of a child that act as milestones or benchmark for healthy children. Any child that does not fit in the expected growth and developmental curve, he is assumed to be unhealthy, and treatment interventions should be applied as soon as possible (Goodway, Ozmun, & Gallahue, 2019). a nine-month child who has not attained a weight of 8.2 kg will surely be termed as underweight. In the given case, the girl is underweight, has small length than expected and her head is small (Goodway, Ozmun, & Gallahue, 2019). This shows there is something wrong with the child, and therefore I don’t think it will be advisable to tell the mother to go home without consulting a paediatrician. However, it is acceptable that the mother should consider improving the diet of the child to ensure she only takes balanced and health food.
Response to Patricia Asare
It is agreeable that among the main factors that nurses are supposed to consider when assessing a child’s health is her physical growth and motor development, emotional and social development, language and communication skills, cognitive development (Goodway, Ozmun, & Gallahue, 2019). It is clear the child in the picture has issues that are holding her back in terms of physical development. Nevertheless, there are some circumstances where the growth of the child is affected by other problems like fights between parents (Goodway, Ozmun, & Gallahue, 2019). However, I do not agree with your post on how the mother can help the child. As stated, the child is nine months, it will therefore not be possible to play games with her, the child cannot read, or visit the mall and hence the proposed measures are not. The mother needs to seek professional advice for the sake of the kid and also improve the child’s diet as instructed by the doctor.
Response to Hannah-Laureen
It is true that extremely low birth weights are contributed by exposure to congenital infections, chromosomal abnormality, metabolic disorder and chronic risks (de Bernabé et al., 2004). The issues can make a child be prone to environmental risks like unclean waters, radiation etc. I agree with you that of all the cases of child mortality and sickness, the main factors are said to be tobacco smoke, fuel smoke etc. you have also recognized the contribution of culture and ethnicity as main factors leading to low birth weights. I agree that language barrier, religious beliefs, socioeconomic problems hinder many mothers from knowing the best method to ensure their children get good care (Darlow, Graham & Rojas‐Reyes, 2016). Furthermore, these barriers hinder pregnant mothers from being able to access and afford the good pre-delivery care available, leading to poor dieting and lack of enough the required body minerals in mothers.
Response to Andrew Palmer
I agree with Andrew; low birth weight in babies is related to the low rate of prenatal development or preterm birth. It is true that low birth weights have also always been linked to maternal malnutrition, overworking, inadequate healthcare, or poor health of the mother (de Bernabé et al., 2004). This is a major problem, especially to in certain cultural communities and ethnic groups, and the disparity has become a major setback in the industry. Low birth weights are associated with many problems; one of them being high mortality. A big percentage of the children who survive are followed by other problems like inhibited growth, and chronic diseases later in life (Darlow, Graham & Rojas‐Reyes, 2016). This is an indication of how low birth weight problem is a major problem that needs to be given attention by all concerned bodies to ensure the prevalence and incidence is reduced and the families affected by the problem are provided medical care.