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Section of participants at the workshop
By Akanji Alowoludo, Gombe
The first 1,000 days refers to a child’s life from the moment they are conceived until they reach 24 months. A baby’s experiences in their first 1,000 days of life can have a lifelong effect on their health and wellbeing. It is an important foundational period which shapes their development and wellbeing because Children thrive when they have supportive environments in these early years.
It has been proven that during the first 1,000 days, the brain grows more quickly than at any other time in a person’s life and a child needs the right nutrients at the right time to feed her brain’s rapid development. There are three crucial stages in the first 1,000 days: pregnancy, infancy and toddlerhood.
The first 1,000 days of a child’s life lay the foundations for their entire future. The clock starts at conception and runs to the child’s second birthday. Robust evidence shows it is critical to invest in the first 1,000 days, so that every child gets the strongest start to life.
During pregnancy, the health, nutrition and stress levels of the woman can have an effect on the baby’s future. After the baby is born, their physical environment, nutrition and relationships can have a lifelong impact on their health and wellbeing.
In their first 1,000 days, the baby will need:
healthy food, loving relationships, safety and security, time to play, a healthy environment — including in the womb. The baby’s brain develops more quickly during the first 1,000 days than at any other time of life. The way their brain adapts to its environment contributes to the sort of person they will grow into.
The right diet (nutrition) during pregnancy and in early childhood will help the baby’s learning, physical skills and emotions to develop properly. Being hungry or exposed to stress or abuse during this time can have a lifelong effect on a child’s development. An unsafe or unhealthy environment in the first 1,000 days can affect a child’s physical health in later life too.
Therefore, good nutrition in the first 1,000 days is very important. Receiving good nutrition in the womb and through early life is essential for the child’s future health. When a woman is pregnant, her weight and lifestyle habits can influence how the baby’s metabolism, immune system and organs develop. Poor nutrition during pregnancy and early life can lead to obesity, heart disease and stroke later on.
To give the baby the best possible start in life, it’s important to eat a healthy diet while a woman is pregnant and to breastfeed if possible. Once the baby starts solids, one can help them develop healthy eating habits for life.
Stress and trauma in the first 1,000 days do have an effect on the child. If a pregnant woman experience a lot of stress while pregnant, the baby’s nervous system and growth can be affected. This can lead to health problems later in life, including heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes.
Of course, often stress and trauma are unavoidable. It’s not the woman’s fault if she experience trauma, and help is available. If a pregnant woman is facing a very stressful situation when she’s pregnant or have a young child, she should speak to the doctor or child health nurse.
Safety and security are important for the child in the first 1,000 days because loving, secure relationships are vital for the child’s development. It’s through their relationships that babies learn to think, understand, communicate, show emotions and behave. Relationships affect how they see the world and help them understand how they fit into society.
Also, Playing, singing, reading and talking to the baby are all important ways to help them to feel safe and loved. Stress caused by violence in the home can affect babies. Parents who are experiencing family (domestic) violence may have difficulty forming a loving attachment with their baby.
One important thing is addressing poverty during the child’s first 1,000 days. There is a link between poverty in infancy and adverse health and wellbeing outcomes later in life. This may be partly because the stress on parents caused by financial hardship can prevent them from providing the level of care their baby needs.
If, as a woman, one is experiencing poverty, there are things she can do to help her baby build resilience in the first 1,000 days: Asking for help and accepting practical support. Learn about government-funded financial benefits for families here. Manage your own stress — for example, by avoiding fighting or using drugs or alcohol to cope. Make your baby feel secure and loved. Do fun, low-cost activities together as a family.
What can I do to give my baby the best start? To ensure the best possible first 1,000 days for your baby:
Also Eat a healthy diet when you’re pregnant Avoid smoking, alcohol or drugs
If you’re experiencing violence or trauma, seek help Breastfeed for at least 6 months, if you can. Make sure your baby has a healthy diet. Give your baby lots of love and attention so they feel secure.
In order to ensure a proper reportage of the above issues as they relate to the first 1,000 days of life of the child, UNICEF organized a Two day Media Dialogue with Journalists drawn from the States in the Bauchi Field Office of Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba states as well as from the FCT.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), stressed that the first 1,000 days of a child is crucial for physical development and brain growth and a woman’s nutrition during pregnancy, breastfeeding as well as baby’s nurturing care in the first two years is extremely important for a healthy future.
The Chief of UNICEF Field Office Bauchi, Dr Tusha Rane stated this virtually during a two days media dialogue on the first 1,000 days of a Child life, organized by UNICEF Bauchi Field Office for participants drawn from Gombe, Taraba, Bauchi, Adamawa and F.C.T Abuja, held at the Emerald hotel Gombe state.
According to him, the first 1,000 days of life is the time spanning between conception and a baby’s second birthday which is an important period of opportunity when the foundations of optimum health, growth, and neurodevelopment across the lifespan are established.
He said that maternal and child nutrition and health can determine the child’s ability to grow, stressing that poor nutrition in the first 1,000 days cause irreversible damage to a child’s growing brain and body.
“The period of rapid brain growth and maturation is 80 percent by two years and failure of growth during this period is associated with long term consequences which includes schooling, productivity and income. Neuronal pathways are developing most rapidly in the first 1000 days, however poor children are at great risk of malnutrition in the first 1,000 days.
“Stunting is associated with increased risk of cognitive impairment while gaps between the risk and poor in reading, language, cognitive development emerge before primary school. Cognitive /linguistics delays accumulate early and last a life time, hence early life is sensitive period for brain development” he said
The UNICEF Chief further said that if a child is not properly breast-fed or given the proper nutrition early, a case of stunting sets in which have potential consequences, pointing out that nurturing care in early life is very important.
He said that high impact intervention during the first 1,000 days include maternal supplementation and dietary counselling, weight gain tracking, infection control and antenatal care from conception to delivery, adding that intervention from 0-5 months of a child’s life include exclusive breast feeding, immunization, infection prevention and treatment and nurturing care.
In his own remarks, the Communication Officer, UNICEF Field Office Bauchi, Opeyemi Olagunju said that the objective of the media dialogue is to educate journalists on the peculiar threats to a healthy first 1,000 days in the Bauchi Field Office focus states and extent of implications so that public stakeholders can rise up to the occasion in addressing the threats.
In a presentation during the dialogue, the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Kashere (FUK), Gombe State, Professor Umaru Pate, called on Journalists to devote more time and resources on reportage of development issues advising Journalists to always present media contents that would promote behavioural change and national development.
He explained that behavioural change was about altering habits and behaviour for long-term benefits, saying, “The media is a veritable tool for facilitating behavioural change using factual information and accurate data.
According to him, “The media must, therefore, invest in technology to be effective in information gathering and dissemination. To achieve any meaningful change, media organisations must focus on funding, technology, safety, credibility and improve on content. Practitioners must be conversant with the Child Rights Act to project issues around behavioural change towards children for the well-being of future generations.”
He then announced that FUK, in partnership with UNICEF, had introduced Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Master of Science (MSc) and Postgraduate Diploma (PGD) in social, behavioural change communication and development and described investigative Journalism as a key factor in changing the attitude of people who are resistant to change and healthy attitude.
He stated that the world is evolving with latest trends of technology where people’s media consumption are changing with competitive demands because according to him, investigative Journalism must take centre stage in media organizations in order to change the attitude of people especially those resistant to healthy change.
Ali Pate also said that, since the media is an important component of behavioral change, it must invest in research to change the negative perception of people towards development issues stressing thar, “Commercialisation of the media hampers behavioral change in people. We have thrown away social responsibility and do not conduct research on development issues because they are not commercially paying”.
Professor Ali Pate therefore called on the media to take the interest of children into consideration and minimize harm and danger to them as top priority by carefully thinking about the result of their actions and pointed out that if children are deprived of their chidhood socially, economically, physically and mentally, the nation will be deprived of the potential human resources for social progress, economic empowerment, peace and social stability as well as good citizenry.
“The media is capable of mobilizing and supporting social movements benefitting from its circle so that all children are safe from violence. The media can make or Mar national development, they can facilitate positive change as well as stimulate positive actions for the rights of children”, he stated.
Meanwhile, in a determination to ensure that the First 1,000 days of life of a child was enhanced, Journalists, especially Health Reporters have made a pledge to engage in enhanced advocacy towards achieving the objectives of the process.
The commitment was made by Journalists drawn from Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba states as well as Abuja at the end of a media dialogue on the first 1,000 days of a child’s life organized by UNICEF in its move to ensure children survived the most critical and challenging time of their lives.
The Media Dialogue was held at Emerald Hotel, Gombe during which the Journalists also pledged to embark on massive advocacy towards enhancing the survival children during their first 1,000 days of life which is believed to be very crucial.
While leading the process to the commitment, the National Vice President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) , Alhassan Yahya noted that one of the critical roles of the media is agenda setting towards enhancing the lot of humanity through investigative journalism and human interest stories.
He assured that NUJ will continue to partner all relevant stakeholders to ensure that the contemporary challenges facing humanity are reduced and resolved to the barest minimum.
Alhassan Yahya also thanked UNICEF for organizing the media dialogue which he opined was a right step towards reducing child mortality in the first 1000 which is the most challenging period in the life circle of a mankind especially in developing countries like Nigeria.
Re-echoing the national vice president,
Also speaking, a former Chairman of Adamawa State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists, Umar Dankano thanked UNICEF for the timely intervention in the issue of women and children. ,
He said that, the dialogue has energized Journalists to partake in the advocacy and activities to ensure the preservation of lives at that critical period.
He further noted that such positive intervention by UNICEF could not have come at a better time considering the mortality rate of children within the age bracket of the first 1,000 days.
Umar Dankano also said that the high rate of mortality of children within that age limit is unacceptable as such, it has become pertinent for journalists to be part of the moving train to ensure the reversal of the ugly trend.
The former NUJ Council Chairman pledged to step down the knowledge to colleagues and other stakeholders in the health value chain for positive results.
He promised to ensure that challenges being encountered in the first 1000 days of life, from conception to the 2nd birthday such as low turnout of women to antenatal care, immunization, incidences of malnutrition et all are reduced to the barest minimum.
During their separate presentations, various resource persons drawn from the academia, UNICEF and Primary healthcare development agencies all noted that significant number of babies are lost in the first 1000 days due to various factors including low immunization, malnutrition, dearth of skilled health personnel amongst others.
The Journalists also embarked on field visits to various health facilities in Gombe State to have a firsthand information about the processes of healthcare delivery services in relation to pregnant women and children under 5 years.
During a field visit to one of the health facilities, Gombe Specialist hospital, where UNICEF has intervened to reduce child mortality, the Medical Director, Dr. Muazu Ishaq noted that there has been significant changes in enrollment of women for antenatal and postnatal services in the facility.
He said that his hospital has been educating and helping to modify health-seeking behaviour of mothers and caregivers to seek proper healthcare for their children instead of local vendors.
According to him, “We have people that have been trained to provide training for mothers. We showed them how important it is to pursue exclusive breastfeeding for the children. We also partner with development partners to provide support for caregivers and evaluate their activities from time to time to see whether they are complying with what they have learnt.”
He added that, “To be honest, we have seen changes that have encouraged us to do more,” the hospital chief noted. Recently, we started by educating women to change their health-seeking behaviour because we discovered that mostly did everything at home with the help of local vendors. So we told them of the implications and encouraged them to seek proper healthcare for their children, not only when the situation is out of hand, but to ensure that they regularly visit the hospital for proper treatment of their children to ensure a healthy future for them, and honestly, the response has been massive.”
A pregnant woman, Afiniki Hussaini who was at the facility for antenatal care at the time of the visit, stated that she has “experienced peace” since she started began her antenatal at the facility and have “been tutored on a range of subjects about childcare that I previously had no knowledge about.”
A Health Specialist with UNICEF, Dr. Emmanuel Emedo said that the idea of engaging the media on the ‘First 1,000 days of a child’s life’ is to enlighten the public on the need to reduce infant deaths by adhering to guidelines that help children achieve better health and developmental outcomes.
According to him, “The whole idea is enlighten the press on the challenges we are having in this zone (Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba and Adamawa States). These state are chosen because of the burden of infant deaths across the states. As we move towards the SDG goal of less than 12 deaths per 1,000 life births and less than 25 death of under 5 children per 1000 life births, we try to look at where we are. Although we have made some progress, there is still more work to be done.”
He also said that, “The challenges are broad; unemployment and poverty. Poverty is a major factor because there are people who are living in multidimensional poverty. There are still many households to be reached and we still don’t have adequate coverage across our facilities. So to leave no child behind, we will need every stakeholder on board to achieve it.”
