When Should I be Concerned About My Child's Growth

Watching your child grow is both fascinating and a matter of pride. The most extraordinary period of growth and development in a child’s life is from birth till 5 years of age. As children progress through various stages of life all children do not attain the milestones of development at the same time. Children develop skills in varying time frames depending on their unique differences. However, it is advisable to be watchful and monitor their overall growth i.e., physical and behavioural.

Keep a check on your child’s development

Here are a few pointers that you must keep in mind while monitoring your child’s development.

• By the age of 2-3 years, your child should be able to walk, run, climb and jump easily, able to open doors, play with other children and get dressed without help.
• By the age of 5 years your child will be able to use objects to build a tower, match and name colours, answer simple questions & enjoy rhymes, stories & jokes.
• Seek advice if your 3-year old tends to fall a lot or does not show interest in playing or if your 5-year old shows stammering or hesitates to play with other children.

Here’s how poor nutrition may affect your child’s growth and development.
The implications of poor nutrition can be short and long term. Here are a few implications:

• Lack of nutrients can compromise your child’s immunity. They can easily fall prey to infections.
• Deficiency of zinc can result in poor growth, hair loss, diarrhoea, weak immunity, and skin problems.
• Vitamin A deficiency may impair vision, especially at night along with a drop in immunity
• Not only macronutrients but micronutrients and their deficiencies can also cause growth retardation.

Importance of the right nutrients for a healthy child
The overall development and timely reaching of milestones is dependent on many environmental factors of which balanced nutrition is a key factor. As the nutrient requirements for pre-schoolers has increased at this stage you need to ensure adequate supply of nutrient dense foods to their small tummies to prevent any delay in reaching these developmental milestones. Below mentioned is the food group classification based on main core nutrients that they provide to the body.

ENERGY RICH FOODS

 

MAJOR NUTRIENTS	FOODS	OTHER NUTRIENTS PROVIDED
Carbohydrates and fats	Whole grain cereals, millets	Protein, fibre, minerals, calcium, iron & B-complex vitamins
	Vegetable oils, ghee, butter	Fat soluble vitamins, essential fatty acids
	Nuts and oilseeds	Proteins, vitamins, minerals
	Sugars	Nil

BODY BUILDING FOODS

 

MAJOR NUTRIENTS	FOODS	OTHER NUTRIENTS PROVIDED
Proteins	Whole grain cereals, millets	Protein, fibre, minerals, calcium, iron & B-complex vitamins
	Milk and Milk products	Calcium, vitamin A, riboflavin, vitamin B12
	Meat, fish, poultry	B-complex vitamins, iron, iodine, fat

PROTECTIVE FOODS

 

MAJOR NUTRIENTS	FOODS	OTHER NUTRIENTS PROVIDED
Vitamins and Minerals	Green leafy vegetables	Antioxidants, fibre and other carotenoids
	Other vegetables and fruits	Fibre, sugar and antioxidants
	Eggs, milk, milk products & flesh foods	Protein and fat