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Feed Your Child Well: Prevent Pneumonia
Feed Your Child Well: Prevent Pneumonia
alone, though in developing countries like India, the incidence is higher in low income families. In Dr Pandeys opinion, Good nutrition need not be expensive. In some villages, children are more likely to have access to good nutritive diet, like fresh fish from the river, and pure cow/buffalo milk, which urban children may not be able to get that easily. Rural kids also have better and cheaper access to green vegetables and fruits. Urban families may be spending a lot on food but compromising on its nutritive aspect. I would emphasize that diet should be nutritionally balanced by way of quality and quantity and be appropriate to the childs needs. Commercially available products like fast and junk food, which are heavily advertised in print and electronic media, should be avoided. Simple homemade food is good for the children. Dr Ajay Misra, Managing Director of Nelson Hospital of Paediatrics and Neonatal Medicine, also stresses upon educating the public on the role played by good diet in preventing pneumonia and other diseases. He feels that, Parents should know the caloric needs of their child and ensure a balanced diet, containing adequate amounts of protein, carbohydrate, iron, and calcium for their children. I would highly recommend fibrous foods like green vegetables, lentils, simple roti/chapatti which is relatively cheaper and very good for the health. Parents should not initiate their kids to fast foods like pizzas, burgers, pastries, and colas drinks which are very harmful and should be indulged in once in a while only. I would strongly recommend fruits and not juices, as the former have enough fibre along with minerals. Inadequate nutritionin utero, during infancy, and early childhood is closely linked to lifelong immune deficiencies and acute respiratory infections like pneumonia. Inadequate maternal nutrition is also a major risk factor for later childhood pneumonia, as it is linked to low birth weight. Suboptimal breastfeeding also increases the risk of malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies in the infant. According to Dr Amita Pandey, Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University (erstwhile King Georges Medical College, Although pneumonia affects rich and poor children, studies have shown that it is more common in mal nourished children. The same infection which ends in a mere Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI) in a well nourished child is very likely to cause severe debilitating pneumonia in a malnourished one. I would like to add here that well fed children from well off families can also be malnourished due to a variety of reasonsthey are not breast fed, they are on top feed which does not have enough proteins, or the top feed is mixed with water with the misconception of making it more digestible. As the child grows older milk is often supplemented with food items which may not be nutritivelike colas, chocolates, fries, burgers, pizzas. All this adds to malnutrition. As the baby grows older, it has to be weaned off mothers milk and given a protein rich diet, including fruits, to boost the immune system.
Improvements in health care and nutrition are interventions that can significantly reduce the incidence of pneumonia. According to the Acute Respiratory Infections Atlas, 2010 broad and integrated commitment on the part of the international community to improving living standards worldwide is the true foundation of prevention. With a view to improving nutrition and increasing immunity against pneumonia and other diseases, the World Health Organization stresses upon exclusive breast feeding till six months; breastfeeding and complementary foods until two years of age; and thereafter an access to nutritional supplements and a healthy diet. Rising food prices over the past few years have added to the woes of malnutrition. At the time of writing this article, food inflation in India was at an all time high of 9.13%. It is imperative to have commitments from governments to combat malnutrition at the community level. Meanwhile one must remember that expensive foods may not always be nutritive, and that overfed/obese as well as undernourished children are low on immunity and hence breeding grounds for many childhood diseases, including pneumonia.
This article is part of a Citizen News Service (CNS) series in lead up to the World Pneumonia Day, 12 November 2011. The project was managed by Abhinav Bharat Foundation and funded by the 2011 Small Grants for World Pneumonia Day Advocacy Program. We are grateful to the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC), John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, GAVI Alliance, Global Alliance for Clean Stoves, and Best Shot Foundation for their support. We would like to thank all those who were interviewed as part of this project and who took the time to share their views.
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