Nutrition and Child development: A review

Appropriate nutrient is a vital factor influencing growth and immunity. Nutrition is very essential during pregnancy and infancy, which are critical periods for the formation of brain, putting out the foundation for the development of cognitive, cognitive, motor, and socio-emotional skills throughout childhood and adulthood. Certain nutrients have critical role in brain development and their deficiency causes severe life-taking risks. Deficiency of iodine leads to cretinism and other neural disorders while deficiency of iron results into disruptive mental, cognitive, emotional and behavioural functions. Likewise, deficiency of zinc and choline leads to alterations in attention, activity, neuropsychological behaviour and perception and construction of human intelligence respectively. The consequences of inadequate nutritional status during childhood may have long-lasting ill-effects on the health and performance of children during their adult years. Hence, young children need to develop healthy eating habits along with some physical activities at an early stage. It is really essential for children to consume all sorts of nutrients in their daily diet.