#First1000Days of a child is a window to shape healthier & more prosperous future

neslte-start-healthy-stay-healthy

On 12th September, 2015 – I went to attend a Blogger Meetup/Seminar held at Pearl Continental, Karachi by Nestle.

It was to create awareness about the importance of a child #First1000Days and Nestle’s Start Healthy Stay Healthy initiative.

The seminar was very informative where Dr. Huma Fahim who is Medical Advisor in Nestlé Nutrition gave the audience an informative presentation, which was followed by an interactive quiz. Dr Huma told very clearly that first six months, child should only be fed with mother’s breast milk without any alternative. She further add to it:

“Insaan ka dodh insaan ke bachon ke liye hai aur gayein ka dodh gayein ke bachon ke liye!”

Cow milk is good for the growth of cow kids and human milk is good for human kids. Its a complete meal which prevents from many diseases and gives your child a healthy life with healthy future. Nestle doesn’t recommend or promote any branded milk as an alternative to breast milk.

She also told that:

“Health and growth of a child start from conception, not birth.”

So whatever the mother eats, it will have a great impact on the health and growth of a child from conception. Zinc, iron, magnesium, vitamin and calcium are extremely important for child’s growth and development.

Few facts have been shared with us during the presentation which are not good at all for the future generation of Pakistan:

  • Above 40% of children in Pakistan suffering from iron and zinc deficiency
  • We’ve lost 4 inches of average human height in 5 decades in Pakistan
  • Pakistan lies amongst the top 14 countries that carry malnutrition diseases
  • Child gain 50% of height during #First1000Days of life
  • Only 1.6% of the mothers know the importance of Zinc

Waqar Ahmad, the Head of Corporate Affairs, said:

“Nestlé has an expertise in nutrition and believes it has a responsibility to share that expertise. We want to promote better health through good nutrition in the first 1,000 days of life. Research shows that children who don’t get proper nutrition in their early years can’t fully develop their physical and cognitive potential and are at an increased risk of poor health as adults.”

Before attending this meetup, I didn’t know that how important are #First1000Days of a child. I’m a father of 3 months old daughter and I feel lucky to get this information at the right time to take more care of my daughter growth and health. Here I would like to thanks TDF for inviting me to this informative seminar.

I pledge to raise awareness about the #first1000days of nutrition for a healthy future of Pakistan.

— Zair Abbas (@zairabbas) September 12, 2015

You can find out more about #First1000Days by following the hashtag.

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