Nutrition/Malnutrition

I chose the topic of nutrition/malnutrition to research this week for several reasons.  I am originally from Ohio/Kentucky and my family is all about feeding people.  No one ever went hungry and they always found ways to ensure the people around them never did either.  When my mom was a little girl, she would make sandwiches (unbeknownst to my grandmother) and take them to some of the homeless people she would pass walking to school every day.  My grandparents were poor as well so they really didn’t have extra to pass around, but they helped anyone and everyone who asked.  That translated through the generations as my mom and I are the same way.  We can’t stand to see anyone go hungry.

In terms of nutrition for birth to two, breastfeeding is a topic that is meaningful to me because of the challenges I had with my boys.  With my oldest twins, Jason couldn’t latch on because he was so small (4lbs 11oz) so I ended up pumping milk for him.   Joshua did fine and I breast fed him for approximately 5 months.  They both had a combination of breast milk and formula from the very beginning.  I had mixed feelings about this at the time.  I really wanted to breast feed, but with twins I didn’t feel like they were getting enough and, with time constraints, I just couldn’t pump enough to keep up.  My husband only spent one week at home after they were born so trying to juggle them both throughout the day was a challenge.  Additionally, I was at home for only 8 weeks before having to return to work.  I tried to pump at work, but it was not always convenient or comfortable.  If I had more support at home and support at work, I may have been able to breast feed longer.

With my second set of twins, it was even harder.  Both of the boys were able to breast feed, but I had the same challenges.  I didn’t think they were getting enough so I supplemented with formula.  Thinking back, I believe the hospital supported the combination breast and formula feeding.  Again, I did not have enough support at home to allow me to breast feed them.  At the time, the older boys were about to turn 2 years old so I had them to contend with as well.  There just wasn’t enough time in the day!  It was an internal battle trying to balance the time I spent with the babies with the time I spent with them so I ended up only breast feeding for 3 months.  Another contributing factor was I developed mastitis around the two and half month mark so after it healed I decided I couldn’t do it anymore.  I knew breast feeding was important and after reading all of the information this week, I am feeling a little guilty for not trying harder.

I chose to look at nutrition information and challenges for The Gambia because the text book mentioned this country in chapter 5 and it reminded me that our first AuPair (Emma) had vacationed in this country with her family before she came here to live with us.  According to The World Bank (2011), 28% of children under five are stunted, 16% are underweight, and 7% are wasted.  In terms of stunting, The Gambia has lower rates than other countries in the region and income group, but that likely varies across the different areas of the country and socio-demographic groups.  Although the country institutionalized nutrition policy development in 2000 by establishing the National Nutrition Agency and they included nutrition in the country’s poverty reduction strategy, the infant and women statistics are troubling.  The life expectancy in the country is 56; the lifetime risk of maternal death is 1 in 32; the under-five mortality rate is 106 per 1000 live births; and it is 64^th highest out of 136 countries in global ranking of stunting. 

I can’t really say that this topic will be something that impacts my future work since my goal is to work on issues surrounding Autism and Developmental Disorders.  I do want to advocate in some way for more support in this country for breastfeeding moms.  I am not surprised that the United States ranks last on the Breastfeeding Policy Scorecard (DellAntonia, 2012).  I have also seen several “hidden camera” televisions shows that show people’s reactions to women who breastfeed in public.  I was shocked at how horrible people are to mothers.  It is a shame that a nation like ours cannot accept something as simple, beautiful and wonderful as a mom taking care of her child.  What a bunch of hypocrites!

Dell ‘Antonia, K. (2012, May 15) United States Ranks Last on Breast-Feeding Support. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/15/united-states-ranks-last-on-breast-feeding-support/

The World Bank. (2011, April). The Gambia. Nutrition at a Glance. Retrieved from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/NUTRITION/Resources/281846-1271963823772/TheGambia41211web.pdf