Answering your Child's Need for 360° Development

In the first 3 years of his life, your child’s brain will grow up to 80% of its adult size. 

You only need to look at your 2-year-old to understand how far he has come from the time he responded to his own name to the time he spoke his first full sentence. These are the milestones that he will achieve as his brain develops.

In fact, the brain is the command centre for your child’s Cognitive Motor, Communication and Emotional skills. Pediatricians utilize these 4 key developmental areas to assess the progress of a child’s well-rounded development.

What is  ‘360° Development’?

Back then, ensuring that a child is book smart used to be enough. However, today’s competitive world and ever changing technology require children to be well-rounded individuals.

‘360° Development’ consists of 4 types of skills your child acquires as his brain develops.

These are:

• Cognitive: Involves thought processing such as knowing shapes, colours and what ordinary things are for, i.e., spoon, brush.
• Motor: Involves body coordination and movement such as walking, sitting and drinking unaided.
• Communication: Involves language, such as saying several single words or simple sentences.
• Emotional: Involves interaction such as imitating others and beginning to play with other kids.

Key foundations for 360° Development

You play the most important role in providing both nutrition and stimulation to your child, which are the 2 key foundations needed for 360° Development.

Nutrition

As your child’s brain continues to develop rapidly during the first few years of his life, you’ll need to incorporate the right nutrients into your child’s diet, as good nutrition lays the groundwork for his growing years.

One of the key nutrients is Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Research has shown that DHA gets highly concentrated in the brain and eyes of the child during the last trimester of pregnancy and the first few months of life.¹

This accumulation of DHA also corresponds with the phase when the child’s brain growth is at its peak. The stage of rapid brain growth and DHA build-up uncovers the vital existence of DHA as a crucial nutrient for and the building block of the child’s neurodevelopment.

Some of the other important nutrients are:

• Arachidonic Acid (ARA)
• Choline
• Iron
• Iodine
• Zinc
• Vitamins B1, B6, B12 and C

Stimulation

Stimulation refers to a child’s interaction with his parents, other caregivers and his environment. This helps to strengthen connections in a child’s brain, while encouraging milestone development.

Below are some suggested stimulation activities that you can try with your child:

• After 6 months: Encourage Communication milestones by responding to your baby’s exclamations as if he is using a clearly spoken language and try to engage him in back-and-forth “conversation”.

• 1 year: Flip through the pages of a book and get your child to look at it. As Cognitive development continues, they may even point to a picture of a cat when you ask where it is.

• 2 years: Provide playthings that help develop Motor skills like hand control such as hard beads to string or chalk to draw with.

• 3 years: Talking and responding to your child is one of the best things you can do to boost their Communication and Cognitive skills.

Find out about the crucial nutrients found in  Enfamil A+ Stage 2 on the next page…

Introducing Enfamil A+ Stage 2 with DHA PLUS

Every time your child thinks, billions of neurons will connect rapidly for a new learning experience.

That’s why Mead Johnson formulated Enfamil A+ Stage 2 with scientifically formulated levels of 17mg DHA  and 34mg ARA per 100kcal.

It has DHA levels that help meet recommendations for infants aged 6-12 months. 

DHA and ARA are important building blocks for development of the brain and eyes in infants (only for food for children up to 3 years of age).

To find out if your child is getting the recommended levels of DHA, click here.

The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life. Unnecessary introduction of bottle feeding or other food and drinks will have a negative impact on breastfeeding. After six months of age, infants should receive age-appropriate foods while breastfeeding continues for up to two years of age or beyond. Consult your doctor before deciding to use infant formula or if you have difficulty breastfeeding.

References

 1. Nettleton JA. JAm Diet assoc 1993 Jan; Jan93(1):58-64.