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Nutrition and Education: The impact of diet on education
 

Last time on nutrition we talked about the respective school of thoughts about what nutrition is. We will take off from there today.

So what is Nutrition?

Nutrition is the sum total of the processes involved in the taking in and the utilization of food substances by which growth, repair and maintenance of the body are accomplished. It involves ingestion, digestion, absorption and assimilation. Good nutrition can help prevent disease and promote health.

I have seen parents blame their children for their poor performance at school but really for some of these kids their parents are to be blamed because poor feeding (malnutrition) experienced in childhood affects the brain development and could have resulted in the poor performance of these kids.

Just keep reading and you will find out how diet impacts our level of intelligence especially for growing children. I believe every parent wants their children to be intelligent and smart.

A healthy, well-prepared brain is one of the first essentials for learning anything. Like any other complex machinery, your brain needs energy. Basically it gets it from the food you eat. 

To learn effectively – and for your mind and body to work effectively – your brain sends millions of messages around the body every second: sometimes billions. These transmissions depend on a balanced diet, one that includes plenty of protein.

Feed it a low-energy diet, and it won't perform well. Feed it a high-energy diet, and your personal computer will work smoothly, efficiently and effectively.For energy it needs plenty of glucose. That's why fresh fruit and vegetables are so essential 'cos they are rich in glucose.

Nutritionist says there are two windows of opportunities that affect intelligence and the success attained at these 2 windows is highly dependent on parents. 

- The first window is the third trimester- the third month of pregnancy. That’s when the fetal brain undergoes a growth spurt.  Feeding well during pregnancy ensures all that’s needed (nutrients) to build a child’s brain is adequately supplied; a shortage in the supply of the necessary nutrients makes the baby’s body manage or use what is available in building the brain. You can imagine what happens when you build an equipment with insufficient materials, the equipment may look nice but its durability and efficiency will be questioned.

- The second window is from birth till age 3.  This is the period where the brain develops. It’s said that the development of the brain stops at age three. An infant’s brain triples in size during the first year of life from 350 g to1000 g and continues to develop rapidly during the first 2-3 years of life during which it attains 80% of its adult weight.

A significant amount of brain building is happening at this time wherein the foundations for intelligence, vision, and language are established.

So for the first three years of life it is vital you feed your kids well because a failure to do so affects their attention span, their cognition, social and emotional development and also their school performance.

Micro-nutrients play an important role within these first three years.  Deficiencies in certain micro-nutrients incurred during the prenatal period have been shown to cause specific neurologic deficits. 

These micro-nutrients are:

- Iodine 

Iodine deficiency is the most significant cause of irreversible mental impairment.

- Folic acid 

Folic acid deficiency causes neuraltube defects, i.e. meningocele and encephalocele; and orofacial clefts, i.e. cleft lips and palate.

- Iron

Iron deficiency anemia is the most common nutritional deficiency

worldwide; its highest prevalence is between 6-24 months of age. It has a negative effect on the infant’s sleep-waking cycle and on psychomotor and developmental maturation.

-        Zinc 

    Zinc deficiency causes slowing and restriction of behaviour, lethargy, apathy and decreased growth rate. It is also associated with a compromised host-defense mechanism thereby predisposing the child to recurrent infections.

- Pyridoxine or vitamin B6 is an essential cofactor in the developing central nervous system. Its deficiency in animals is associated with alteration in the glutamin-ergic neurotransmitter system which is involved in memory and learning.

A good diet helps Provide the right type of energy needed and also helps improve memory. It ensures a perfect development of the brain and thus makes us and our children, sharp, smart, efficient, effective and a standard for others. 

Its up to us to do our part in helping our children, born and  yet-to-be-born attain a perfect growth. We owe them that!

Got to run....... 

Yspot!

We will come your way again on Wednesday with Honeymoon spots and places of relevance in Nigeria.