Importance of Nutrition in the Development of a Child’s Brain

 Importance of Nutrition in the Development of a Child’s Brain

Introduction

The problem under discussion is the need for children to be subjected to nutrition as there are experts who claim it leads to cognitive growth and development. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of nutrients on the development of children’s brains. Significant gaps exist between scholars who agree that nutrition is essential for the growth band development of children’s brain and body and those opposed. The research question involves experts who questioned the need for children to be subjected to compulsory diets at such a young age simply because it helps their overall growth. The hypothesis states that nutrients are essential for the cognitive growth and development of children’s brains, which were found on the necessary different types of diets. As such, the objective is to determine whether nutrients are essential for the development of children’s brains. In this paper, it establishes that nutrition is critical for the cognitive growth and development of children mentally and physically through the use of quantitative data collected to show how these nutrients should be compulsory from a young age.

Literature Review

In the first 1000 days, they are fundamental in the development of children, which continues to their adulthood. The article by Schwarzenberg & Georgieff (2018) provided a quantitative analysis of the effects of introducing infants to 1000 days of proper nutrition.  Human studies and preclinical trials have provided increasing overwhelming evidence that proper nutrition is essential in fetal and early neonatal period during the neurodevelopment process in an infant. Such different tools incorporated in this study led to achieving adequate knowledge on the importance of nutrition on the development of a child’s brain.

Myelination is essential since it influences growth and cognition not only in young children but infants as well. The quantitative data collected here involved the observation of myelination and its effects on brain connectivity and behavioral functioning. The authors describe myelination as the process that consists of the analysis of different cells and molecular signals in the brain (Deoni et al., 2018). As such, adequate analysis requires the intervention of a holistic approach to understanding health, nutrition, and safety. As such, the cognitive growth and development of children’s brains mostly depended on the provided nutrients from different diets.

Parents with little income and few resources in low and middle-income countries also deserve to have their infants and children thrive. This is according to Vohr et al. (2017), who state that neurodevelopment was essential for the effective growth of children. Early childhood education is essential as the nutrition that they were exposed to daily. Subjecting children to different diets can be helpful and hazardous at the same time. This was documented by Cusick & Georgieff (2016), stating that the major role of nutrition in the development of a child’s brain was during the first 1000 days since birth. Onwards, such children continue to develop and progress well emotionally, physically, and mentally well into their adulthood. As such, experts investigating the need for these strict diets on infants, their mothers, and children are imperative. As evidenced above, proper nutrition is a fundamental aspect of the cognitive development of children and their mothers both physically and mentally.

Methodology

In this study, the research design involved data collected in both the semi-experimental and experimental view that discussed the research problem. Relevant to this study, a meta-analysis was incorporated to help assess the results of research done on the subject. Mostly, this involves quantitative research on epidemiological studies done on whether nutrition is essential for the cognitive development of a child’s brain. The sample population studied was children under the age of three years.

Additionally, the study incorporated the study of maternal and lactating mothers as well as autism children below three years. The procedure undertaken involved a meta-analysis involving a three steps method comprising a step-by-step process, tools used, and how the tools were handled. The method of analysis incorporated was quantitative analysis. This analysis seeks comprehension of the behavior of children who had not been subjected to proper nutrients from a young age.

Results

In the study conducted by Scaglioni, (2018), the quantitative results showed that under the age of 7 years, mothers who smoke or propose themselves to habits that endanger their children lead to more cases of children born with a brain problem. The research conducted by Georgieff, Ramel, & Cusick (2018), shows that protein is one of the essential nutrients that hinders brain growth not only for children but as adults as well. Also, for children aged12-36 months, they need iron/folic acid, while those aged 7-9 years, they require prenatal iron. The article by Deoni et al. (2018) shows that children aged below three years had improved myelination as opposed to those given artificial formulas. The article by Cusick & Georgieff (2016) shows that more than half the children born without proper nutrition show a lack of protein-energy distribution leading to smaller brains during birth since there are few RNA and DNA contents. To conclude, Vohr et al. (2017) study show that more than 40% of adults are affected by poor vision since their mothers lacked access to good proper nutrition.

Conclusion

Nutrition plays an essential part in the development of a child due to its role in the growth and development of all vital organs in the body. Also, proper nutrition plays an essential role in the development of fetuses during the pregnancy period to its infant stage. The importance of these findings helps researchers, parents, expecting parents on the vital role that nutrition plays on effective brain development as well as physically. Implications include relevant stakeholders implementing what they have learned about the significance of nutrition. All in all, despite the research conducted, other potential ways to continue the research include analyzing peer-reviewed journals and books on the importance of proper nutrition.

References

Cusick, S. E., & Georgieff, M. K. (2016). The role of nutrition in brain development: the golden opportunity of the “first 1000 days”. The Journal of pediatrics, 175, 16-21. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.jpeds.2016.05.013

Deoni, S., Dean III, D., Joelson, S., O’Regan, J., & Schneider, N. (2018). Early nutrition influences developmental myelination and cognition in infants and young children. Neuroimage, 178, 649-659. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.neuroimage.2017.12.056

Georgieff, M. K., Ramel, S. E., & Cusick, S. E. (2018). Nutritional influences on brain development. Acta Paediatrica, 107(8), 1310-1321. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.14287

Scaglioni, S., De Cosmi, V., Ciappolino, V., Parazzini, F., Brambilla, P., & Agostoni, C. (2018). Factors influencing children’s eating behaviors. Nutrients, 10(6), 706. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu10060706

Schwarzenberg, S. J., & Georgieff, M. K. (2018). Advocacy for improving nutrition in the first 1000 days to support childhood development and adult health. Pediatrics, 141(2), e20173716.  https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-3716

Vohr, B. R., Davis, E. P., Wanke, C. A., & Krebs, N. F. (2017). Neurodevelopment: the impact of nutrition and inflammation during preconception and pregnancy in low-resource settings. Pediatrics, 139(Supplement 1), S38-S49.