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Proper infant nutrition
- Proper infant nutrition is fundamental to a child’s continued health, from birth through adulthood. Correct feeding in the first three years of life is particularly important due to its role in lowering morbidity and mortality, reducing the risk of chronic disease throughout their life span, and promoting regular mental and physical development.
www.who.int/health-topics/infant-nutrition
People also ask
What is the most important factor in infant care?
Why is infant and young child feeding important?
Why is breastfeeding important in the first 2 years of a child's life?
The material provides the foundation for the essential care of every newborn: immediate care at birth, resuscitation when needed, breast milk feeding, thermal care, prevention of infection, recognition and response to danger signs.
- Infant and Young Child Feeding
Infant and young child feeding is a key area to improve...
- Infant and Young Child Feeding
- Summary
- Why The Early Years Are So Crucial
- Foundations For Promoting Child Health
- Fit For Pregnancy: Pre-Conception
- Fit During Pregnancy: Staying Healthy in Pregnancy
- Risk Factors in Pregnancy
- Protecting Health in Infancy
- Supporting The Transition to Parenthood
- The First 2 Years in Life
Public Health England (PHE) wants to increase the proportion of children ready to learn at 2 and ready for school at 5. This resource for health professionals and local authorities is about investing in early years services from pregnancy to age 2.
What happens in pregnancy and early childhood impacts on physical and emotional health all the way through to adulthood. Supporting good maternal health is important for safe delivery and good birth weight to give babies the best start. The prevention of adverse health factors in pregnancy is vital. Premature and small babies are more likely to hav...
The Healthy Child Programme
The Healthy Child Programmeis the heart of public health services for children and families. It brings together the evidence on delivering good health, wellbeing and resilience for every child. It sets out the schedule for services covering care from 28 weeks of pregnancy through to age 5. This is delivered as a universal service with additional services for families needing extra support, whether short-term intervention or ongoing help for complex longer-term problems. The programme comprise...
Healthy Start
Healthy Startis a UK-wide government scheme to improve the health of low-income pregnant women and families on benefits and tax credits through provision of vouchers and vitamin tablets and drops. Healthy Start provides a great opportunity for health professionals and others working with pregnant women and families to offer encouragement, information and advice on issues such as healthy eating, breastfeeding and vitamins. Healthy Start vouchers can be used to help families on a low-income buy...
Good health before and during pregnancy is vital. Pre-conceptual care includes giving advice on: 1. full immunisation status 2. vitamin D and folic acid 3. reducing alcohol consumption 4. giving up smoking 5. contraception, family spacing and sexual health Women who are trying to conceive should be advised to take 400 micrograms of folic acid each ...
A healthy woman is more likely to give birth to a healthy baby. Health professionals can support women, and their partners, to adopt positive health behaviours and reduce risk factors.
There are a number of factors that can increase the risk of harm to the unborn baby and many of these are influenced by health inequalities.
Newborn Screening
The UK newborn screening programmeaims to detect a number of rare but serious disorders present at birth and prevent serious consequences. Every newborn baby in England is offered screening. The following 4 additional disorders have recently been added to the screening list: 1. Homocystinuria (HCU) 2. Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD) 3. Glutaric Aciduria type 1 (GA1) 4. Isovaleric Aciduria (IVA)
Immunisation
After clean water, vaccination is the most effective public health intervention in the world for saving lives and promoting good health. The UK has one of the best immunisation programmes in the world and recently added the meningitis B vaccine to the childhood immunisation schedule. In the UK from September 2015, babies born on or after 1 July 2015 are being offered the meningococcal group B (MenB) vaccine as part of the routine immunisation schedule. Babies born on or after 1 May are being...
Secure attachment
Sensitive attuned parenting is the foundation of attachment. If a parent or carer is responsive to a baby’s signals and ‘takes turns’ in communicating with them from birth onwards, babies develop a secure attachment to the carer. A secure attachment ensures a child will feel secure and reassured their needs will be met. This promotes emotional self-regulation and resilience into adulthood. Preventing and intervening early to address attachment issues will have an impact on ability to form tru...
Breastfeeding
Creating the right environment to promote and support breastfeeding is crucial. UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiativeprovides a robust evidence based framework to develop a whole system approach. PHE’s Start4Lifecampaign provides parents and parents-to-be with trusted NHS advice on pregnancy and early years. This includes advice on supporting breastfeeding that health professionals should signpost new mothers to. Use PHE’s child health profilesto see local level data on breastfeeding initiation and...
Maternal mental health
Mental health issues can impact on a mother’s ability to bond with her baby and be sensitive and attuned to the baby’s emotions and needs. This can affect the baby’s ability to develop a secure attachment. Many women are, however, ‘falling through the cracks’ and not getting the help they need for mental health problems during and after pregnancy. The Centre for Mental Healthand the Royal College of GPs highlighted that the biggest barrier to providing better support to women experiencing poo...
Nutrition and physical activity
It is important to introduce a healthy diet and encourage physical activity from a young age to help reduce the risks of childhood obesity and tooth decay. Government advice is to breastfeed exclusively for 6 months and to start introducing solids from 6 months onwards.
Oral health
Improving oral health is a priority for PHEand will be covered in detail in a future edition of Health matters.
Safety
Ensuring that babies and toddlers stay safe in and around the home will help to reduce the number of unintentional injuries. PHE’s guidance on reducing unintentional injuries in and around the home among children under 5sets out 3 action areas for local authorities and their partners that will reduce the numbers of children injured and killed.
the most important factor in infant care. Remember that every baby is an individual with his or her own personality, and each will react differently to the same situation. Try not to compare babies or their reactions, as there are wide ranges of standards for weight, growth and development for infants, just as there are for adults. This is why
Aug 30, 2021 · Essential newborn care. All babies should receive the following care: thermal protection (for example, skin-to-skin contact between mother and infant); hygienic umbilical cord and skin care; early and exclusive breastfeeding;
The Baby Friendly Initiative and its standards around care and infant feeding, are demonstrated to be highly effective in improving breastfeeding rates (see Sinha et al, 2015).
Dec 20, 2023 · Infant and young child feeding is a key area to improve child survival and promote healthy growth and development. The first 2 years of a child’s life are particularly important, as optimal nutrition during this period lowers morbidity and mortality, reduces the risk of chronic disease, and fosters better development overall.
May 19, 2021 · Breastfeeding is an important public health priority. Supporting families to breastfeed and increasing the number of babies who are breastfed offers the best possible start in life.
