Health, Safety, and Nutrition
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Health, safety, and nutrition are essential for a child’s wellbeing and development. Parents, guardians, and other caregivers all have the responsibility to ensure that children are safe and healthy. Children must learn how to cultivate various habits that will promote their wellbeing into adulthood. Examples of these include healthy eating habits, regular physical activity, and awareness of their environment. In the current world, parents may be much busier; hence, children’s responsibility is shared by others, such as educators. Children gain a lot from their learning environment, and for this reason, there are many available resources on areas of health, safety, and nutrition when it comes to children.
Health
Health is a vital part of a child’s growth and wellbeing. A healthy child can easily participate in many activities, while sickly children may face various developmental challenges. One of the most important ways to ensure the safety of children is vaccination. Vaccines allow children to develop immunity or resistance to deadly diseases that pose a serious challenge. However, in the recent past, there has been a growth in anti-vaccine sentiments. Such opponents claim that vaccines can cause problems such as autism in children. However, such claims have been debunked by science that proves that vaccines are safe and essential for children’s health (Hagan et al. 2007).
Another way to promote children’s health is to encourage physical activity as part of daily routines. At young ages, most toddlers enjoy playing around the house, but this might slack off as they grow older. They may begin to concentrate more on watching television or gadgets such as smartphones and iPad. Limiting screentime is vital for a child’s health. To promote children’s physical health, they should be encouraged to take part in physical activities such as walking and other games. Such physical activity will promote their physical development as well as help them avoid problems such as obesity.
Safety
Children face various threats to their safety in various places such as home, school, vehicles, and public spaces. When children begin to crawl around during their first years, parents must take care to keep dangerous items from their path. Some things that pose a threat to the safety of young children at home include fires, poisons, furniture, water, choking, and sleep. Parents must be alert to watch their kids’ movements and keep them out of danger (Stewart, et al. 2016). For example, toddlers can easily walk into a pool into their home unnoticed and drown. To avoid this, parents should fence off pools. Poisonous items and medicines must be kept well out of the reach of children in locked cabinets.
Cars also present a danger to children of all ages. For younger children, their car seats must always be securely attached in the back seat, and the children strapped in as required. This will keep them safe in case of any accidents. Older teens of driving age must be taught how to drive safely and responsibly. For example, some teens may not be aware of the danger that driving under the influence of substances such as alcohol and drugs poses a threat not only to themselves but also to other road users.
Child abuse is another area that educators must look out for in children under their care. Children are usually afraid to speak about the abuse they may suffer in the hands of adults or even fellow children; thus, educators must be on the look-out for signs of abuse and report to relevant authorities.
Nutrition
With the worrying trends in child obesity, managing the nutrition of children is vital. Children develop healthy eating habits if they are taught at a young age. One way to do this is to avoid talking about weight and focus on healthy foods, for example, instead of telling a child that they are fat. Speak to them about the importance of choosing healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables as part of their diet. Diet is a significant contributor to childhood obesity, and instilling healthy eating habits is a way to fight this (Marotz 2014). Many children today tend to consume more unhealthy foods at home and school, such as fries, chips, soda, and pizza, all of which contain high salt, sugar, or fat content.
At home, parents must begin to feed their children balances, healthy, and nutritious food. Schools should also teach children the importance of proper nutrition so that children do not feel like healthy food is a punishment for them. Child hunger is also a real cause of concern, and schools play an essential role in this because some children rely on school feeding programs for their nutrition, such meals should be as healthy as possible. Healthy food promotes the physical and mental development of children of all ages.
In conclusion, health, safety, and nutrition are core areas that protect and promote the welfare of children. Adults tasked with taking care of children must be equipped with relevant tools and information in these subjects. Lack of information could lead children to suffer unnecessarily. For instance, incorrect information about vaccines could lead children to suffer from deadly yet avoidable conditions later in life. Childhood is a time of learning, and therefore children must be taught valuable lessons and habits that will help them make the right decisions in the future. Childhood lessons form a basis for most future habits.
References
Hagan, J. F., Shaw, J. S., & Duncan, P. M. (2007). Bright futures: Guidelines for health supervision of infants, children, and adolescents. American Academy of Pediatrics.
Marotz, L. R. (2014). Health, safety, and nutrition for the young child. Nelson Education.
Stewart, T. C., Clark, A., Gilliland, J., Miller, M. R., Edwards, J., Haidar, T., … & Merritt, N. (2016). Home safe home: Evaluation of a childhood home safety program. Journal of trauma and acute care surgery, 81(3), 533-540.
