Hillary Clinton Addresses Early Childhood Nutrition

May 17, 2010

The following is excerpted from speech given by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the 2010 National CARE Conference. The statistics are daunting. For the full speech, go to http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/05/141726.htm.

“One in three children worldwide suffers from under-nutrition. In some countries, half of all children are stunted, which impedes their brain development and causes lifelong health and learning problems.

More than 3 million children and 100,000 mothers die every year from causes related to under-nutrition, which weakens immune systems, makes people susceptible to other health problems such as anemia, which is a leading contributor of maternal mortality, and pneumonia, which is the leading cause of death for children worldwide.

Under-nutrition impairs the effectiveness of life-saving medications, including the antiretrovirals needed by people living with HIV and AIDS. And the effects of under-nutrition linger for generations. Girls stunted by under-nutrition grow up to be women who are more likely to endure, if they survive, difficult pregnancies. And then their children, too, come into life undernourished.

So nutrition is a universal need and people of all ages and circumstances deserve access to nutritious foods. But the two groups that have the most acute need for improved nutrition are pregnant women and children, particularly babies. This is due in part to feeding practices that have women and children, particularly girls, eating last and eating least. But it also reflects the particular health needs of women, especially mothers and especially young children.

Nutrition plays the most critical role in a person’s life during a narrow window of time – the 1,000 days that begin at the start of a pregnancy and continue through the second year of life. The quality of nutrition during those 1,000 days can help determine whether a mother and child survive pregnancy and whether a child will contract a common childhood disease, experience enough brain development to go to school and hold a job as an adult.

The science of nutrition points to a strategy. If we target that brief critical period during which nutrition has the biggest impact and focus on improving nutrition for expectant mothers, new mothers, and young children, we can accomplish several things at once. We can save lives, we can help children start life on a better path, and we can bolster economic development and learning down the road.”

Sam Chow, Director of the Gifted Babies Program in Le Beaumont Language Centre, who has invested 10,000 hours in the R & D on early brain development and language acquisition, has the following observation. "The first 1,000 days after birth are indeed critical to child development. In developing countries, the problem is with the lack of nutrition. In developed countries, the problem is with the lack of language stimulation and social interaction. One in every 6 children in UK has language development problems.

Don't leave your baby at home. Don't let your baby grow up under acute deprivation of language stimulation and social interaction during the critical first 1,000 days because both parents are away at work. Join the Gifted Babies program and let your baby grow up into a gifted child in a multi-lingual multi-cultural environment rich in stimulation and social interaction.