In a latest report released by the UN's Children Fund, it said at least five out of six children worldwide under the age of two do not receive adequate nutrition for growth and brain development. The latest study focused on breastfeeding with recommendations that children be introduced to solid, semi-solid and soft foods at the age of six months, but has found that many are introduces to these foods too early or late, hence, creating an adverse effect on health and development.
France Begin, senior nutrition adviser at Unicef, said, "Infants and young children have the greatest nutrient needs than at any other time in life. But the bodies and brains of millions of young children do not reach their full potential because they are receiving too little food, too late. Poor nutrition at such a young age causes irreversible mental and physical damage."
The report said that though critical to safeguarding against death, fewer than half of all newborns breastfeed within the first hour of life, and only half of children aged six to 23 months are fed the minimum number of meals per day for their age. Breastfeeding may reduce the risk of obesity and chronic disease later in life, and mothers who breastfeed are at a lower risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers, it said. In both, rich and poor countries, long periods of breastfeeding correlate with higher intelligence sources, the Unicef report said, also adding that further evidence indicates that this shows in better academic performance and long-term earnings.
