Child nutrition and Malnutrition

I chose this topic because I remember a little boy who went to the babysitter with my daughter. He took so ling to sit up and he would drool like an unusually large amount. he couldn't roll over for a long time and I would constantly ask his mother about his formula. I even talked with her about getting him to the doctor and having him checked and see if he was developmentally delayed. He didn't try to crawl and it took him forever to walk. Well one day I discovered just by accident that she had been adding extra water to his formula to make it go further. Her husband was laid off and they didn't have enough money for groceries so she was adding water to the formula to stretch it out. She didn't realize that he needed those vitamins and minerals in the formula. I talked to her about this and helped her enroll in the WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) program so she could get the formula at no charge. He soon became a more active and developing child. He is about to turn four years old now and I still see some effects of his what I call Malnutrition.

Malnutrition in Australia
is a major public health issue in Australia. Known as the silent epidemic, malnutrition is estimated to affect 35 - 43 per cent of patients in Australian hospitals.

Estimates of malnutrition in the wider community vary, but a recent Australian study found the prevalence of malnutrition across eight residential aged care facilities ranged from 32-72 per cent.

Malnutrition can have huge implications on quality of life and ultimately lead to poor medical outcomes.

This makes me wonder if there is actually a direct relation to the lack of medical supplies available during childbirth and the malnutrition epidemic. Is it poor medical care and education about the nutrition of the child. Are the parents getting the information from the midwife that a doctor would give them about feeding their child? It definitely gives you something to think about.