5 common mistakes mothers make when raising children

Children are malnourished for many reasons, including mistakes in raising and caring for children by parents.

Currently, the rate of underweight children under 5 years old is 14.1%, and stunted children is 24.6%. Here are 5 common mistakes mothers make when raising their children:

Do not breastfeed

In 2005, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding was 15.5%, now it is 19.6% and Vietnam is in the group with low breastfeeding rates. According to research results in Kien Thuy, Hai Phong, the rate of mothers breastfeeding within the first hour after birth is 55.2%, but the rate of mothers breastfeeding exclusively in the first 6 months is 20.2%.

Breast milk is the best natural food source for children. Breast milk contains all the nutrients in balanced proportions suitable for the child's digestive and absorption system. Breast milk also contains antibodies that help children increase their resistance to infectious diseases. Breastfeeding reduces the risk of malnutrition or overnutrition (malnutrition), chronic non-communicable diseases in adulthood, especially cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes...

Breast milk is the best natural source of food for babies.

Although breast milk has many benefits for children, not all mothers know and practice it. Factors that affect exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months are often: mothers have to go back to work early, mothers think their milk is not as good as formula milk, prefer foreign milk, want to keep in shape...

Children must drink formula and eat solid foods before 6 months because the mother has to go to work, so the child does not have the opportunity to be breastfed completely. The advertising and marketing of milk products that replace breast milk (even colostrum) has had a negative impact, causing some mothers to not believe in the value of their own milk, or to prefer foreign milk. Many mothers want to maintain their figure after giving birth, so they feed their children formula instead of breastfeeding. In addition, some mothers do not know how to breastfeed properly and protect their milk supply for their children.

Supplements too early or too late

Complementary feeding is a form of supplementing other foods for children in addition to breast milk. According to the recommendations of the World Health Organization, the time to give children complementary foods (sam, weaning) is when they are 6 months old (180 days). After 6 months of age, the increased demand for breast milk is not enough to meet the needs of children, so it is necessary to supplement food for children. Currently, there are still mothers who believe that giving children complementary foods early will make them stronger and less hungry, so they give them complementary foods from the 4th or 5th month, and many children are even given complementary foods from the 3rd month. This has significantly affected the use of breast milk, and children are susceptible to digestive disorders leading to malnutrition. In particular, some mothers in rural, remote and isolated areas still feed their children chewed rice, spoon-fed rice, which is unhygienic and can even be a source of disease transmission for children.

According to nutritionists, early complementary feeding will increase the burden on the digestive system, while the child's digestive system is still weak, affecting the digestion and absorption process, health and development of the child. Complementary foods are often digested slowly, so the child will have poor appetite, not enough nutrients, the child will gain weight slowly and is susceptible to malnutrition. A suitable diet for children is a diet that must be implemented sequentially from liquid foods such as milk, moving to thin powder, thick powder, then porridge and rice.

On the contrary, when supplementary feeding is given late, breast milk is not enough to meet the needs, the child will also gain weight slowly. Because breast milk after 6 months cannot meet the increasing nutritional needs of the child, it is necessary to give the child additional supplementary foods. In addition to breastfeeding, the child needs to eat at least 1-2 meals of rice powder a day and the number of meals depends on the age.

Care and nurturing when children are sick

Taking care of and nourishing children before, during, and after illness is very important because it will help them recover quickly, regain their health, and increase their resistance to disease. When children are sick: have a fever, diarrhea, etc., their energy and nutritional needs are greater than normal, while some mothers have the misconception that they must be on a strict diet, such as not breastfeeding, not feeding them oil or fat, not feeding them protein, not feeding them green vegetables, only feeding them MSG (sugar)... for fear that they will have more diarrhea. Children with fever will lose water, but not rehydrating them and giving them Oresol, forcing them to be on a strict diet, etc. After they recover from illness, do not feed them more so that they can quickly recover their health. A strict diet, an unbalanced and inadequate diet for children, therefore, puts them at risk of malnutrition.

Overfeeding children with nutrients

The protein requirement of children from 6 to 11 months old is 2 - 2.2 g/kg/day or 18 - 20g/day (equivalent to 20 - 30g of meat/meal). The need for oil or fat is 1 - 2 teaspoons/meal and green vegetables is 1 - 2 teaspoons/meal. The formula for a meal of crab porridge for children 7 - 9 months old includes: 4 teaspoons of rice flour, 1 small bowl of crab water, 1 teaspoon of fat, 2 teaspoons of crushed green vegetables. In the first year, the nutritional needs of children are very high, necessary for development, while the child's stomach is small, the digestive system is very weak, if not well nourished, it is easy to have diarrhea, leading to malnutrition and rickets. Therefore, mothers must pay close attention to food hygiene and safety when choosing food, preserving/processing..., and at the same time feed their children the right amount of food they need, avoiding overfeeding them with too many nutrients.

Feed your child the right amount of food he needs, avoid giving him too much nutrition.

Children's supplementary meals must ensure enough essential nutrients: carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals. Feeding enough and balancing nutrients helps children develop well; otherwise, children will be at risk of malnutrition, underweight and stunted growth. If the diet contains too much protein, the immature digestive system will have to work hard, easily causing digestive disorders, causing loose stools, diarrhea...

Another common mistake is that some mothers still think that meat broth and bone broth are nutritious enough, only giving their children the water and not the solids... while these types of water contain almost no protein. Protein-rich foods are still used monotonously. Many mothers do not feed their children fish, crab, shrimp, eggs... for fear that their children will be allergic to the food, afraid of the fishy taste... which can easily cause loss of appetite, and at the same time create biased eating habits that are difficult to change later.

Growing up will "nurture/take care of compensation"

Due to the impact of modern lifestyle, parents often do not have the conditions to take care of their children from a young age, because they think that when their children grow up, they can take care of them "to compensate". This is a completely wrong point of view, still existing in many parents, especially young families.

In fact, science has proven that malnutrition during the important stages of human development - before and during pregnancy and in the first 2 years of a child's life - has programmed each individual to regulate growth and affect brain development. Therefore, early malnutrition can lead to irreversible damage to brain development, the immune system and physical growth. Children with poorly developed brains in the first years of life will be at risk of diseases of the nervous system later: poor learning, early school dropout, poor work skills... The first 1,000 days of life is the window of opportunity to prevent chronic non-communicable diseases related to nutrition such as: overweight, obesity, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular diseases, blood pressure, osteoporosis. Therefore, caring for and nurturing children from the time they are in the womb until they are 2 years old is very important, it determines the height, weight, diseases and brain of children when they grow up. If the golden 1,000 days period is not well cared for and nourished, no matter how hard we try, we cannot make up for it because almost everything has been "arranged". Therefore, nutritional support at this stage achieves optimal results compared to any other stage in a child's life.

According to SK&DS