Nutrition/Malnutrition and South Asia

Nutrition/Malnutrition

 Malnutrition occurs when a person does not consume sufficient food of any kind (Berger 2009). Malnutrition causes many children to become underweight. Children become very sick and some even develops chronic illnesses. This topic is very meaningful to me because I do not like the fact that there are so many children who are starving and not receiving the proper nutrients. This topic saddens me and makes me want to help as many children and families as I can. As I researched this topic I found that there are so many countries that have malnourished children and that several die every minute. Some of these countries happen to be: South Asia, Sub-Saharan African, Pakistan, and India.

The country I chose to learn more about is South Asia. South Asia has the highest rate of malnutrition and the largest number of undernourished children in the world (Iqbal 2009). Poverty is mainly the reason for malnourished children in South Asia. In South Asia some women, eat less meals that causes their babies to have low birth weight. Research has proven that this means that the child was undernourished inside the womb and the mother was also undernourished as a child during her pregnancy. (World Bank)

Poor hygiene also adds to the rise of malnourished children. This lower children’s appetite and also causes children to burn more calories when they have a fever. While reading about malnutrition in South Asia; it mentioned that the status of women is another reason why so many children are weak and starving. In South Asia, most women cannot read and doesn’t speak as much, so there is a lack of decision making by the women involving their child’s wellbeing.

This information will help impact my future work is that I am now more familiar with malnutrition in children. I am able to find out about other countries that are affected by this disease. I will be able to identify children who are being underfed. This helps me to be more opened in understanding about other countries and the things that they go through. This topic about malnutrition makes me want to become involved and make sure that my students are getting the right amount of calories and proper nutrients.

References

Iqbal,Saadia. February 2009. Tackling Child Malnutrition in South Asia.

youthink.worldbank.org/blog/tackling-child-malnutrition-south-asia

Bhalla,Nita. Nov 2009. South Asia told Fight dire toddler malnutrition.

http://om/reuters.com/article/idIndia-43869520091111

An Urgent call for Action: Undernourished Children of South Asia.

web.worldbank.org/.../SOUTHASIAEXT/0, contentMDK: 22264595~menuPK: 158937~pagePK: 2865106~piPK: 28651...

           

BIRTHING EXPERIENCE OF MY NEPHEW

I remember the day; my great-nephew was born on August 26, 2003. My niece was only sixteen years old at the time. She started having small contractions pains and soon after, her water broke. She was so scared. Eventually her contractions started coming closer and closer together. My sister and I drove her to the hospital. The nurses checked her to see how far she has dilated. She was five centimeters. The nurses hooked her up onto all the machines and waited for her to get close to ten centimeters.  They checked her to make sure that everything was fine with her and the baby. I was there rubbing her back and comforting her through the pain. Four hours later, it was time to have the baby. I was so happy and was ready for his arrival. The doctor came in and told her to start pushing. We helped coach her through her breathing and pushing. After a couple of pushes, he was here! He came out crying and I knew that everything was okay. The nurses took him and cleaned him up. He weighed 8lbs and 3oz.  That was a very exciting day for me.

The Birthing of China Culture

While reading information about how Chinese people do things during pregnancy. I learned that some things are similar and different to the U.S. As in most cultures, many customs and superstitions surround the state of pregnancy and the events of birth and early infancy in Chinese culture. In Chinese culture, they function to protect the pregnant woman and child from harmful influences' and to prevent problems with pregnancy and birthing such as miscarriage, stillbirth, death of the mother and imperfections in the newborn. A pregnant woman is expected and encouraged to continue working, as it is believed that this will ease labor and delivery. In the U.S, women go on maternity leave and stop working. Arguments and disputes are to be avoided as the baby may be disturbed by them. Nutritious foods and herbal soups should be eaten. We also believe that we should eat nutritious foods while pregnant. Overeating may cause an overlarge baby and thus a difficult labor and delivery. A pregnant woman should not walk around barefoot. Rubbing the abdomen too often is thought to result in a spoilt and over demanding child.

Old traditions believe that the sex of a baby can be determined by the shape of the pregnant woman’s abdomen, especially after the first three months I have heard that you could tell the sex of the baby by the shape of the stomach as well. If the appearance of the belly is pointed, then the child will be male, if rounded, female. When a Chinese baby is born, he/she is already considered to be a year old: age is calculated from the date of conception not the date of birth. This is new to me; our kid’s birth starts on the day they are born. After birth, the mother is expected to observe a 40 day period of confinement. During this period, she is not allowed to eat food considered ‘cold’ or have cold baths. In the United States, women are told not to drink cold water. A month after the birth, a small celebration to celebrate the arrival of a new family member is held. Guests- close relatives and neighbors- give gifts such as baby clothes or chicken essence and receive a small, round, red and yellow cake with a peanut-based filling and some hard-boiled eggs painted red. In the U.S, we called this a baby shower and it is done before the baby arrives. The day after the feast, the baby’s hair is shaved off: the baby’s hair is regarded as ‘interim’ hair and its removal facilitates the growth of permanent hair.