Why pregnancy and lactation are critical stages in lifecycle, Biology

Assignment Help:

Why Pregnancy and lactation are critical stages in lifecycle?

You must be aware that the situation of women is far from optimal and it is necessary to give attention to their nutrition and health. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2, 1998-99) indicates that the mean BMI for women is 20.3. More than 1/3rd women have a BMI below 18.5 indicating high prevalence of chronic energy deficiency. Asia has the highest prevalence of anaemia in the world with about half of all anaemic women living in the Indian subcontinent, where 88% of them develop iron deficiency anaemia during pregnancy.

Under nutrition in children is strongly associated with under nutrition in mothers. It often starts in utero and may extend throughout the life cycle. It occurs during pregnancy, childhood and adolescence and has cumulative effects. Under nutrition, especially in the mother, is associated with poor pregnancy outcome including a higher incidence of low birth weight, maternal mortality, foetal and infant death and disability. Malnourished women or adolescent girls give birth to stunted and thin babies. Thus, under nutrition is handed down from one generation to another. Such children may not show catch-up growth in the later years and are more likely not to   perform well in school. As adults, they may be less productive and are more likely to suffer from chronic degenerative diseases. Chronic under nutrition accounts for a  large proportion of child deaths, poor pregnancy outcomes, poor quality of life and lost  productivity among earning adults and spanning generations.

At no other period is the well-being and future of an individual completely dependent on the health and nutritional status of another as is during pregnancy and early periods of lactation. The mother's nutritional status is a crucial factor affecting pregnancy outcome. Her diet must be carefully planned to supply the nutrients needed to maintain her health, support the physiological changes in her body and provide for the rapid growth and development of her unborn baby while protecting her from deficiency or excess of nutrients.

The goal is not just survival, we must try and ensure that every woman who is pregnant has the opportunity for a safe and successful pregnancy and the ability to deliver and care for an infant whose physical and mental potential are not impaired.  Once a child is born, she must be adequately nourished to continue to depend on their mothers for nourishment. Lactation has high nutrient costs; hence the mother's diet must be nutritionally adequate. Let us then understand these two physiological conditions in greater details. We begin with pregnancy.


Related Discussions:- Why pregnancy and lactation are critical stages in lifecycle

Agriculture, what''s a mature female sheep called

what''s a mature female sheep called

What do you mean by alpha taxonomy, Q. What do you mean by Alpha Taxonomy? ...

Q. What do you mean by Alpha Taxonomy? This relates to the basic or preliminary classification based almost entirely on external morphology. This can be considered as the empir

Define economically important fermentation products, Normal 0 f...

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Homologous series, Homologous series A homologous series can be illust...

Homologous series A homologous series can be illustrated as a group of compounds in which the several members have similar structural features and identical chemical propertie

#title.circulatory system, #question.what is the mechanism of circulatory s...

#question.what is the mechanism of circulatory system .

Define absorption, Define Absorption, Storage and Elimination of Pyridoxine...

Define Absorption, Storage and Elimination of Pyridoxine? Pyridoxine, pyridoxal and pyridoxamine (along with their phosphorylated forms) occur in plant and animal foods. The ph

Dysrhythmias - complications of cardiac surgery, Dysrhythmias Usually ...

Dysrhythmias Usually occur during the initial 24-72 hours, but may occur later on also. The causes may be ventricular irritability due to manipulations of heart durin

Show fruiting bodies present in a few fungi, Q What are the fruiting bodies...

Q What are the fruiting bodies present in a few fungi? Fruiting bodies are structures made of hyphae that project radially from the superior portion of the peduncle of a few fu

Trace minerals-chromium, Chromium Chromium functions as a component of ...

Chromium Chromium functions as a component of the glucose tolerance factor, which serves to potentiate the action of insulin. Adding low concentrations (0.02 to 1.0 mg/kg) of c

Transcription of protein-coding genes in eukaryotes, The Protein synthesis ...

The Protein synthesis is very significant because it is by the use of genetic information to synthesize proteins in which the genes in the DNA are expressed in the phenotype. Make

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd