Research Around the World

Early childhood Australia has a lot of research topics. The ones that stood out to me were the child health and nutrition topics. Those topics were about asthma and asthma management and baby and infant oral health. I chose these two topics because I know only a small amount of information on these topics. The website talks about asthma as being a frightening condition for children. It gives families advice on how to assist and support young children with asthma. There is advice for teachers as well as the families. Families are to provide an updated plan for the child’s doctor. Talk about what is normal for the child and their triggers, symptoms, and medication. All educators and carers are to be trained to administer asthma first aid.

 In baby and infant oral health, daily care is needed so that children don’t develop dental caries, resulting in the need for fillings or early extraction. It’s not just brushing that is required: bottles, dummies and diet all play an important role in how healthy a toddler’s teeth are. When a child presents with cavities, fillings or missing teeth due to decay before 24 months of age, it is known as ‘early childhood caries’. Although preventable, ECC is the most prevalent chronic childhood disease, five times more common than asthma and seven times more common than hay fever. Dental check-ups are important for all children, to assess the developing dentition and to identify risk factors such as developmental enamel defects, unsupervised brushing and flossing, frequent snacking, on-demand breastfeeding past the age of 12 months, night-time bottle-feeding with liquids other than water, such as milk or fruit juice.

   

References

Healy, T. (2012), Annual Evaluation Report—Asthma Child and Adolescent Program. In possession of Asthma Australia, Kent Town, South Australia.

Tjeuw, D. M. (2015). Children's Health & Nutrition. Retrieved from Early Childhood Australia: http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/parent-resources/childrens-health-nutrition/