THE first 1000 days of a child's life - from conception until the age of two - largely determine what kind of a future that child will have

This is according to international researchers and children's rights activists who are lobbying for governments to intervene in this critical time for children if they want an active, intelligent and productive future workforce.

Inadequate food during this time, both for the pregnant mother and her baby, can have a permanent effect on the child's cognitive development.

Under-nutrition can cause "brain damage, impair the baby's motor movement and impact of its exploratory behaviour", according to the Maternal and Child Under-nutrition Study Group, an international group of researchers.

"Poor foetal growth or stunting during the first two years leads to irreversible damage, including shorter adult height, lower attained schooling, reduced adult income and decreased offspring birthweight," according to the Group in a series on nutrition that was published in The Lancet in 2008.

The series, which concluded that "the international nutrition system is broken . (and) leadership is absent", spurred governments and aid agencies to refocus on nutrition as the basis of good health.

Donors such as the Gates Foundation, World Bank, children's organisations and bilateral aid agencies from countries such as Canada, Britain and France have committed themselves to supporting nutritional interventions, including the fortification of basic foods with vitamins and nutrients.

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) supports public-private partnerships to improve the diets of poor communities.

GAIN's chairperson, ex-trade unionist Jay Naidoo, says South Africa's focus on matric results is too late for the many children who have either dropped out of school or are failing because of early under-nutrition.

Naidoo says: "One reason why so many kids fail is the effect of early under-nutrition on their mental and physical development later in life.

"The critical window of nutrition opportunity is the first 1000 days from conception to two years. Missing this period is the most damaging for mental and physical development."

Naidoo says the government should be "encouraging mothers to attend ante-natal and post -natal clinics with a transport allowance and a food basket or vouchers and education on nutrition".

GAIN advocates six months' exclusive breast-feeding for all babies and is strongly in favour of school feeding schemes.

"School feeding is crucial for attendance and for increasing nutrition. This is often the only meal children from poverty-ridden homes have," said Naidoo, lashing out at provinces that had allowed the schemes to collapse.

"South Africa has to get its priorities right. Children are our most precious resource."

Research is only now unravelling the long-term effects of under-nutrition thanks to studies that have followed large groups of children from birth to adulthood. There is also a link between underweight babies and obese children and adults.

Mothers who have not had enough nutrition during pregnancy give birth to underweight babies with less "lean mass" (such as muscle) and more fat.

If these babies later put on weight they are more likely to put on fat, not lean mass. -Health-e News