During pregnancy, a mother provides all the nutrition and energy for her baby. “Poor maternal nutrition during pregnancy implies a risk of poor nutritional availability to the fetus”, says Dr. Raval, chief of the Early Childhood Association. As a result, pregnant mothers must take extra care in monitoring their diets. Dr. Raval suggests not only for expecting moms to pay special attention to their calorie intake, but to “look at being healthy overall”.
Scientists claim there are over 50 brain chemicals, known as neurotransmitters, that are affected by the intake of food and micro nutrients in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life. “The impact of inadequate nutrition during this golden period is lasting and irreversible, with effects beyond physical health to affect the child’s cognitive development.” As a result, those crucial days- from conception to your child’s second birthday- have the greatest effect on your child’s memory, concentration, judgement, intellect, mood and emotions.
This is important information for all expecting mother’s to understand and take into consideration throughout their term of pregnancy and first few years of their child’s life. Experts say, “the last three months of pregnancy and first three years of post-natal life are most crucial for a child’s brain development. The size of a baby’s brain at birth is almost 70% of the adult size but his body weight is only 5% of an adult. During the first year of life, 15% brain growth occurs. The remaining 10% of brain growth occurs during preschool years.”
