‘We believe in children, young ones, big ones, chubby ones and thin ones. There is faith in their eyes, love in their touch and hope in their attitude. We thrill with them in life’s joys, run in tall grass, bow with them in worship and hold them close in tragedy.
We believe in children, fragile dreams of yesterday, radiant reality of today and vibrant stuff of tomorrow. Yes, we believe in children for wherever we go to mountains, industrial centers and open country, we find yesterday’s children who were nurtured in things of good, at work building kingdom of God.’
Indeed, children are the best Gift of God. They are the future of tomorrow and hope of today. It is a collective responsibility of the society and the nation to take care of its children so that they have a healthy and happy childhood and grow up to be responsible citizens.
The health of a nation is known by health of its people specially children. It is a sad fact that in even this era of modernization, educated societies and improving socio economic conditions, the health report card of our paediatric population is abysmal. Nearly 66% of our children between the age of 0-59 months are anemic, almost 15 babies die before reaching their 1 st B’day, one in every 3 children suffers from diarrhea and one in 6 children has suffered pneumonia. Nearly one third of our children are malnourished. The rising incidence of child abuse adds to this concern whereby one in every 3 girls and one in every five boys is either physically or sexually abused. This is as per National Family Health Survey 5 (2019-2020).
It is mandatory on part of the civil society including parents, teachers, health workers, non- governmental agencies and of course government authorities to address these problems to ensure a healthy and happy childhood for our children.
Some suggested guidelines to improve the health status of children are as follows-
- Healthy mothers - It is the first step for having healthy children. Healthy mothers have healthy babies. Regular antenatal checkups, nutrition, immunization and institutional delivery goes a long way to ensure that babies born are healthy.
- Early Initiation of Breast Feeding - It is important that breastfeeding is started within an hour of being born. This can be done in the labor room itself whereby baby is out on skin to skin contact with mother immediately after being born and takes its first feed, Studies have proven that babies who start breast feeding early have lesser mortality and morbidity.
- Exclusive Breast feeding - Breast feeding is the best feeding for infants. Breast milk contains all essential nutrients for optimal growth of baby and helps in psychomotor development besides protecting the baby from many kinds of diseases. It is recommended that a child is breastfed exclusively for 6 months to have a healthy start in life.
- Immunization - 12 Vaccine preventable diseases can be prevented by giving the child complete vaccination as per the Universal Immunization program. These vaccines are freely given in all government health facilities and keep our children safe from serious and often fatal diseases like TB, Polio, Diphtheria, Tetanus, Whooping cough, Pneumonia, Diarrhea, Hepatitis etc.
- Nutrition - A healthy and balanced diet is the key to a healthy life. From six months of life a child must receive complimentary feeds in addition to breast feeding and gradually start eating a diet containing adequate carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and micronutrients. The dietary habits formed early in life go a long way in shaping a child’s taste for homemade nutritious feeds. It is the responsibility of all parents to ensure that children get healthy and nutritious diet containing all food groups to keep them healthy and free from illnesses.
- Safe ecosystem - A child’s environment including home, school, play area etc. has a large bearing on a child’s physical and mental health. Many illnesses seen in children are due to disturbed or unhealthy eco system. As caregivers it is our duty and responsibility to ensure that a child feels safe in his or her ecosystem. Any altered behavior, suspicious marks on body and unexplained weight loss should be taken seriously and explored to find the cause. Psychosocial factors are well known to result in growth retardation and have an extremely deleterious effect on a child’s future.
There are many government schemes to address these problem viz , Universal Immunization Program (UPI), Mid Day School meals, Free Education till secondary school for girls, the POSCO act (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) , Pradhan Mantri Matratva Yojana etc.
Many Non- Government agencies like SNEHA (Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action), STC (Save The Children), UNICEF,Akshay Patra, Bachpan Bachao and many more are diligently working to improve the nutrition, health, address gender based violence as well as working for identifying child abuse taking remedial action. This is tough battle and we as responsible citizens and adults need to take all measures to promote healthy childhood in every possible way. Let us start by starting with our own home , then neighborhood by creating awareness and sensitizing people towards importance of healthy and happy childhood. Every child is entitled to a happy, healthy and safe childhood. It is our prime responsibility towards our children to provide them with one. HAPPY CHILDREN’S DAY!
Dr Harvinder Palaha,
Consultant Paediatrician
Holy Family Hospital, Bandra
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