It all seems so obvious once you know it. Children around the world are malnourished. Well, let’s give them vitamins.
Programs around the world are doing just that. But a recent study out of UC Davis highlights the impact of the issues that can not be solved by nutrition alone. There are major impacts to children related to how they are raised.
Sure, this seems obvious. But the “problems” keep getting bigger? I’m not sure what I mean by problem and I’m not sure what this actually means.
I think we are going to keep finding that nutrition is not the miracle cure for the current, global, human condition. It’s probably something more.
“Our study found that we can’t just focus on nutrition. Other aspects of nurturing care are just as, if not more important in supporting healthy brains,” said lead author Elizabeth Prado, assistant professor of nutrition at UC Davis.
https://www.ucdavis.edu/health/nutrition-programs-alone-arent-enough-support-healthy-brain-development/
“The association has been influential in prioritizing a global agenda to promote nutrition and growth,” said senior author Anuraj Shankar, with the Center for Tropical Medicine and Global Health at Oxford University. “However, our true goal isn’t just for children to grow taller but for them to fulfill their developmental potential. The study shows that won’t happen unless we target caregiving to nurture thriving individuals and communities.”
https://www.ucdavis.edu/health/nutrition-programs-alone-arent-enough-support-healthy-brain-development/
Globally, an estimated 156 million children younger than 5 years have stunted growth and an estimated 250 million are at risk of not fulfilling their developmental potential.