The best start for every child

The best start for every child

The Public Health Agency (PHA) will today [November 6] hold a maternal and infant nutrition conference on how to give our children the best start in life and ensure that they have a long and healthy future.

 Speakers at the event will explain the importance of good nutrition during pregnancy and in the first five years of life, and the influence this has on a child’s health through to adulthood.

 The conference will highlight the importance of taking folic acid before you become pregnant to protect your baby against Neural Tube Defects such as spina bifida. Spina bifida develops in the first 28 days of pregnancy when a woman may not even know she is pregnant. It is often a serious condition and can result in life-long disability, such as not being able to walk or have normal bladder control.

 Angela McComb, Health and Social Wellbeing Improvement Manager with the PHA, said: “In Northern Ireland, the incidence of Neural Tube Defects is higher than anywhere else in the UK. Research has shown that by taking folic acid before you become pregnant, and eating food rich in folate, you can reduce the risk of your baby being affected by conditions like spina bifida by approximately 70 per cent.”

 Vitamin D is an essential vitamin which helps to develop and maintain healthy bones. We make vitamin D from sunlight on our skin, and get it from some foods such as oily fish, eggs and meat. It is also added to some foods such as margarine and some breakfast cereals. Although many people get enough vitamin D from these sources, some groups, including pregnant women, breastfeeding mums, infants and children up to five years old, need more than others and are recommended to take a vitamin supplement containing vitamin D. Other groups who should take vitamin D supplements are older people, those with darker skin and those who cover up their skin.

 Angela continued: “Recent research shows that up to one in four people in the UK has low levels of vitamin D in their blood which means that they are at risk of developing some health problems, for example, babies and young children who don’t get enough vitamin D before they are born and/or in their early lives can be at risk of developing rickets, which causes weak and badly formed bones.”

 To coincide with the conference, the PHA will launch two new leaflets for the public on folic acid and vitamin D to explain who needs to take extra amounts of these vitamins and how to get enough to keep you, your baby and all your family healthy.