#March4Nutrition – COVID-19 & the First 1,000 Days
The Importance of Nutrition for Building Resilience
In honor of National Nutrition Month, 1,000 Days is kicking off our annual #March4Nutrition campaign to amplify the importance of nutrition for moms and babies during the first 1,000 days. We invite you to follow #March4Nutrition on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter all month long.
This #March4Nutrition, we are highlighting the connection between COVID-19 and nutrition. March 11th will mark the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization’s declaration of a global pandemic. Our world has been turned upside down ever since, but one thing is clear: nutrition plays a key role in keeping moms, babies, families, communities, and countries healthy and strong.
Good nutrition boosts immunity and helps our bodies fight disease and infections. From the very beginning, breastfeeding provides infants with optimal nutrition. Breastmilk is packed with antibodies, stem cells, and other unique properties that build babies’ immunity and protect them from infections. For young children and adults, eating a nutritious diet with adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals is essential for a healthy, functioning immune system.
Malnutrition, or a diet lacking in certain nutrients, can weaken the production and activity of immune cells and antibodies. This leaves malnourished individuals more vulnerable to contracting infectious diseases, allowing these diseases to spread more easily. Malnourished individuals are also at a far greater risk of dying from infectious disease: in fact, a severely undernourished child is nine times more likely to die from common infections than a well-nourished child.
At 1,000 Days, we believe that nutrition is critical for building resilience. Improving nutritional status around the world must be a key part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and our planning for future pandemics. No one is safe until everyone is safe.
Join us this month as we #March4Nutrition for moms and babies during COVID-19 and beyond.