Breaking the poverty cycle

P. T. Barnum (1810 - 1891) is remembered for hoaxes and for starting a circus. I remember him for these words.

To me there is no picture so beautiful as smiling, bright-eyed, happy children; no music so sweet as their clear and ringing laughter.

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Happy children mean the world is making sense. It is our responsibility to care for them. It is also our joy and privilege. No stone should be left unturned in our quest to create a world where children's laughter is heard.

Africa Food for Thought is a charity in Johannesburg, South Africa that addresses a very important aspect of any child's development. Food security!

You can read more about their work in my post Feeding children. Bringing hope. Please take a look. AFFT is doing amazing work for more than 18 000 children in support of education.

In this post, I want to give some insight into why proper nutrition is of utmost importance to children. It is not just about filling tummies every now and then. Proper nutrition is an important aspect of breaking the cycle of poverty that has proven so difficult to break over the years. And here is how.

Malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person's intake of energy and/or nutrients.
Malnutrition leads to stunted/impaired growth and development.
Impaired growth has adverse functional consequences on children.
This includes poor cognition and educational performance.
In turn, this results in low adult wages and lost productivity.
Later in childhood stunting often leads to excessive weight gain and an increased risk of nutrition-related chronic diseases in adult life.
Lower levels of education is often linked to a higher rate of teen pregnancies.

And guess what? The next generation ends up even poorer. Even worse off.

Can you see how proper nutrition can help to break the cycle? Just add adequate psychosocial stimulation and close to effective healthcare. And voila!