Child Development and Public Health

Good nutrition is essential to good health. This topic is very important to me because it is very important that our children eat healthy. Healthy eating can stabilize children's energy, sharpen their minds and even out their moods. While peer pressure and TV commercials for junk food can make getting kids to eat well seem impossible, there are steps parents can take to instill healthy eating habits in children. Fiber is an important nutrient that most children are not getting enough of each day. Parents should encourage healthy eating habits and play a key role in making healthy choices for children and teaching children to make healthy choices for themselves. Nutrition is very important for children because it is directly linked to all aspects of their growth and development, factor which will have direct ties to their level of health as adults. We need to instill proper nutrition trend in our children. Eating unhealthy as a child may bring on unhealthy eating habits as an adult, that may lead to health issue.
Malnutrition in South Africa is ranked 9th in the world for highest hunger levels. South Africa infants are born with low birth weight, and some suffer from wasting, which is a indicator of severe malnutrition. Children are severely under weight for their age and height. Certain factors, like low-protein diet or a reluctance to breastfeed, that make certain South African individuals more susceptible to malnutrition than other. Malnutrition can cause health problems like anemia and pellagra. Another main determinant of malnutrition is culture and lifestyle. Programs are in place to address this issue.

Personal Birthing Experience

With the birth of my first child my husband and I was very excited and couldn't wait for the arrival of our son. The birth of my son was wonderful. When my labor started I expected hours and hours of pain and being tired. After twenty three hours of pain it was time to deliver. So the hospital personnel transported me to the delivery room. By 2:45 p.m. I was fully dilated and ready to push. Once the doctor came in the delivery room I was ready to push. I was told by the doctor to start pushing and my little one was born at 3:15 p.m. perfectly health. My recovery was fine, best wishes to everyone on the safe arrivals of their little ones!!

Giving birth in Japan is very different from giving birth in the United States. The majority of Japanese women strive to give birth with out the use of painkillers. There is a belief among Japanese that labor pain act as a kind of test that woman must endure in preparation for the challenging role of motherhood. Despite that belief there is a growing number of doctors in Japan that are recommending epidurals for their patients, they believe that it create a more peaceful birth experience. Japanese women deliver in hospitals. Fathers are permitted to be present at the birth only if they have taken prenatal classes with the mother-to-be, if a C-section is performed, they must go to the waiting room. The stay for the mother in the hospital in Japan tend to be longer than in the U.S., mothers can expect a minimum of a five day stay for a vaginal birth and 10 days or more for a cesarean delivery. After leaving the hospital, mother and baby often stay at the mother's parents' home for a month or longer, it is a cultural tradition that women stay in bed with their baby for 21 days. During this time they welcome family and friends and eat celebratory food called osekihan  which is red rice with red beans.