There isn’t a various to a balanced food regimen, good sleep, and bodily exercise in elevating a contented, regular, and energetic youngster, medical doctors underlined at a webinar on ‘How to raise a healthy child’ in Vellore on Sunday (Might 25, 2025).
The webinar, organised by The Hindu in collaboration with Naruvi Hospitals, Vellore, was the eleventh version in a collection of 15 underneath the ‘Healthy India Happy India’ initiative to encourage and promote well-being.
Focussing on youngster well being, and the event of newborns to adolescents, the panellists highlighted the significance of prioritising diet, monitoring progress and milestones in numerous age teams, and optimistic parenting abilities to allow kids to blossom into completely satisfied and assured children.
Delivering a chat on maternal well being and wholesome newborns, Murugesan A., Assistant Professor within the Division of Neonatology, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Schooling and Analysis (JIPMER), Puducherry, stated mother and father ought to make use of the Mom and Baby Safety (MCP) card, and pointers which might be obtainable on-line in native languages, freed from value.
He stated 90% of all pregnancies in India had been regular and uneventful, posing no downside to the mom and youngster, and subsequently, all that oldsters and households wanted to do was to remain wholesome.
“The MCP card designed by the Ministries of Health and Family Welfare, and Women and Child Development is a valuable but underused tool,” Dr. Murugesan stated, including, “It carries pictorial documentation of what needs to be done in each month of pregnancy and the newborn’s growth, detailing on vaccines and immunisation, breastfeeding and nutrition. Every family should utilise this resource.”
“Every child is unique and parents have an immense influence on their development,” Sonia Mary Kurian, head of the Division of Paediatrics at Naruvi Hospitals, Vellore, stated. Stating {that a} youngster’s well being was a state of full bodily, psychological, and social well-being, she defined the need for introducing totally different meals teams to a toddler after six months of unique breastfeeding.
“A mother can breastfeed a child up to two years age along with other weaning foods but if a child is bottle-fed longer, they don’t get enough nutrients from milk alone, and run the risk of becoming obese and getting blood pressure and diabetes later in life,” Dr. Kurian warned.
She suggested mother and father to be careful for delayed milestones of their infants from two months to a few years. These might embody delayed strolling and speaking, lack of visible fixation and social smiles, no head management, lack of response to sounds and objects, and unintelligible speech and gestures.
V. Nagarajan, marketing consultant paediatrician at Naruvi Hospitals, Vellore spoke concerning the cognitive, bodily and psychological growth in 10- to 19-year-olds.
He stated anaemia, nervousness issues, and obese had been generally seen within the adolescence years, and it was for the mother and father to grasp their youngster and supply a protected, loving and supporting surroundings to assist them develop into unbiased and assured younger individuals.
“There is a lack of awareness about adolescent health and a stigma to reach out for professional health,” Dr. Nagarajan identified.
“Adolescence is an age when they will be rebels. Parents themselves need to practice healthy habits and guide them by being role models to their children,” he stated.
“Communicate and spend time with your children. Offer them real-world alternatives with meaningful learning,” Dr. Nagarajan stated.
Revealed – Might 26, 2025 02:10 am IST
