Nutrition and Malnutrition

The topic I chose for this blog was nutrition and malnutrition. I chose this one because, I couldn't help but to think about how much food we waste here in the USA. The program that I work for the little children there just bite off of their lunch and then to the garbage can it goes. I can only encourage them to try the food, but if they do not want to eat, they have the right to just dump it in the garbage. I think that this is so wasteful, because I think about all the hungry children who would love to have that food. While are children are afforded a variety of choices to eat, the children in South Africa, struggle with malnutrition and a lack of key nutrients that are needed for proper growth and development. Children ages 1-9 suffer the most from nutrient defiency. They lack nutrients such as iron, vitamin A, iodine, protein, energy, riboflavin, calcium, and zinc.  As I progress through out my educational and professional journey, I can and will do my best to help others understand the importance of all children having enough nourishing foods to eat for optimal growth and development. To do this, I don't have to go as far as South Africa, because we have starving children in our own communities.

Childbirth- In Your Life and Around the World

When I was pregnant with my first child, I was extremely addicted to eating ice. Ice seemed like the only thing I craved for day and night. When I went to the doctor to for one of my third trimester checkups, the doctor told me that if I did not stop eating the ice I would experience difficulties during labor. Well to make a long story short, I was two weeks over due and when I went to the doctor, he decided to put me in labor. I was overdue and had only dialated one centimeter. The labor was truly an experience and 19 and a half hours later, I had a beautiful baby boy. That was 15 years ago and I remember it like yesterday.

I learned that women in Africa experience, trauma during birth due to the lack of prenatal care and poor health habits. Many of them often die during the birthing experience and infants often suffer a fatality as well due to the poor health, poor nutrition of the mother, and lack of prenatal care. This is kind of similar to my experience because I experienced a hard and long labor during the birth of my first child. It is different because unlike the women in Africa, I had access to prenatal care during my pregnancy and I also had access to a healthy choice of food.  Being under the guidance of a physican helped to prevent any fatalities and trauma to my unborn child and myself, unlike the African women who do not have early intervention to prevent death or trauma.