Scott Coahran: Ensuring nutrition through age 2 is critically important
The critical 1,000-day window between pregnancy and age 2 charts a course. When we were born, those caring for us sought to ensure that we got the nutrition we needed to grow and develop properly. But lacking proper nutrition during the critical 1,000-day window between pregnancy and age 2, many children die. Others are stunted, meaning their brains and bodies are irreversibly underdeveloped.
Ensuring kids get a healthy start to life is about more than food aid or adding calories to their diet. It’s about making sure pregnant women, infants and toddlers have access to the essential nutrition they need – not simply the calories. When world leaders gather at the Nutrition for Growth Summit (July 11-12 in Philadelphia), President Obama should be there to commit $500 million toward nutrition-specific efforts in the last year of his administration.
Congress should support this investment as well. What better gift for Mothers and Fathers days could there be in the world?
Scott Coahran, Los Banos
This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 11:55 AM with the headline "Scott Coahran: Ensuring nutrition through age 2 is critically important."