HEALTH

Important Facts Parents Must Know

1. The health of both women and children can be significantly improved by spacing births at least two years apart by avoiding pregnancies before the age of 18 , and by limiting the total number of pregnancies to three or less .
2. To reduce the danger of child bearing , all pregnant women should go to a health worker for pre-natal care and all births should be assisted by a trained midwife.
3. For the first few months of a baby's life , breast milk alone is the best possible food and drink .Infants need other foods , in addition to breast milk , when they are four to six months old.
4. Children under three have special feeding needs . They need to eat 5 to 6 times a day and their food should be specially enriched by adding mashed vegetables and small amounts of fats or oils. 
5. Diarrhoea , can kill by draining too much liquid from a child's body . So the liquid lost each time the child passes a watery stool must be replaced by giving the child plenty of the right liquids to drink- breast milk , home - based fluids such as dal water , rice water butter milk etc. or a special drink called ORS . If the illness is more serious than usual , the child needs help from a health worker and the special ORS drink . A child with Diarrhoea also needs food to make a good recovery .
6. Immunization protects against several diseases which can cause poor growth , disability , and death .All immunization should be completed in the first year of the child's life and a booster given at one and half years . Every woman of child bearing age should be immunized against tetanus .
7. Most coughs and colds will get better on their own . But if a child with a cough is breathing much more rapidly than normal then the child is seriously ill and it is essential to go to a health centre quickly . A child with a cough or cold should be helped to eat and to drink plenty of liquids.
8. Many illness are caused because germs enter the mouth . This can be prevented by using proper latrines ; by washing hands with soap and water after using the latrine and before handling food ; by keeping food and water clean ; and by boiling drinking water if it is not from a safe piped supply.
9. Illness hold back a child's growth . After an illness , a child needs an extra meal every day for a few days to make up the growth lost .
10. Children from birth to three years should be weighed regularly every month for the first year and at least every alternate month thereafter . If there is no gain in weight for two months , something is wrong .

CHILD GROWTH

1. Children from birth to three years should be weighed regularly every month for the first year and at least every alternate month thereafter . If there is no gain in weight for two months , something is wrong .
2. regular weight gain is the most important sign of a child's overall health and development . It is the child's own weight gain which is important , not how the child compares in weight to other children .
3. It is therefore important to weigh children every month . If a child dose not gain weight over a two-month period , then parents and health workers should act . The child is being held back either by illness , or food , or lack of attention . The following paragraphs cover the most likely causes of poor growth , and the most important actions parents can take to keep a child growing well .
4. Breast feeding helps protect a baby and ensure its growth for the first few months of life . Immunization in the first year of life is also essential - it protects against diseases which cause under-nutrition .
5. When other foods have to be given in addition to breast milk , at the age of four to six months , the risk of infection increases . From now on , it is specially important to check that the child is putting on weight regularly .

Tips related To Nutrition

1. Start breast feeding within one hour of delivery . Colostrums ( Mother's first milk , light yellowish thick fluid ) is rich in protein , vitamin "A" and has anti -infective properties . It is the infant first immunization .
2. Feed exclusively mother's milk for the first four to six months of life. No need of any supplement or fluids (not even water) during this period .
3. Start feeding semi-solids , preferably home made after 4-6 months. Continue breast feeding .
4. Continue breast feeding well into the second year .
5. Give food 5-6 times a day to young children .
6. Give more of pulses , groundnuts , milk and milk products in the daily diet of children.
7. Include a variety of food stuffs in daily diet , as a mixed diet is more nutritious.
8. Get your child immunized timely.
9. Do not allows flies to touch foods.
10. Keep your surroundings clean.
11. Maintain personal hygiene.
12. When your child has Diarrhoea or vomiting , give him/her extra water in the form of ORS , cooked pulse water , thick soup etc.
13. Women must take extra food to meet the additional requirement during pregnancy and lactation.
14. Consume green leafy vegetables daily in one or other form.
15. Take daily some raw vegetables in your diet like radish , leafy vegetable, chutney , onion , carrot , tomatoes , cucumber , lemon etc.
16. Use whole wheat flour (unsieved) for preparing chapaties puris etc.
17. Cook rice in just sufficient water to avoid discarding of cooked rice water which drains out nutrients.
18. Do not wash vegetables after cutting and also do not remove thick peels.

Tips On Protecting The Child From Childhood Injuries

While at home or school the child needs to be supervised and guided especially at the initial stage of schooling to ensure safety .Childhood injuries include burns , traffic injuries , falls , cuts etc.

1. Parents should keep an eye on the child's activities and also have knowledge about the mechanism of all the toys with which it plays .
2. The interior decoration of the house should be done in such a way that the child does have any difficulty to move around freely.
3. All the belongings of the child specially its toys should be kept within his reach so that it does not have to climb or make any kind of special efforts to get it which further might cause any injury to the child.
4. All the furniture should have rounded corners and edges.
5. Children should not be allowed to go on roads all alone unless or until the parents are quite sure that they will be able to save themselves from the rashly driven vehicles.
6. They should be kept away from the fire and also precaution should be taken while handling electronics/electrical goods.
7. However , while protecting a child from all the above mentioned dangers the parents should always bear in mind not to be over cautious and over protective towards the child which in the long run, proves to be harmful for the child as over protection makes a child very much dependent and prevents him from being adventurous.