Why is Nutrition Important?


 

Let’s talk about your baby’s brain growth. Incredibly, 60% of your preterm baby’s calories are dedicated to brain growth. To illustrate how much the brain develops, this picture shows the prenatal development of the human brain and just how dramatically the brain changes from 5 months to 9 months of gestation.

Nutrients regulate brain development during prenatal and postnatal life. This rapidly growing brain is more vulnerable to damage from nutrient deficiency, but remarkably amenable to repair. Optimal nutrition early in life will positively impact physical growth and brain development, and it will optimize a child’s trajectory for long-term health and development.

 

Development of the
Human Brain

Development of the Human Brain

Illustration: Kolb, Bryan & Fantie, Bryan. (2008). Development of the Child’s Brain and Behavior. 10.1007/978-0-387-78867-8_2.