Addressing child under nutrition: can traditional practices offer a solution?
Authors
Sarika Chaturvedi
a
Centre for Complementary and Integrative Health, Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India
Joanna Raven
b
Department of International Public Health, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
Bhushan Patwardhan
a
Centre for Complementary and Integrative Health, Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India
Keywords:
KEYWORDS: Child care, nutrition, public health, traditional medicine, massage, complementary therapy, infant care, child nutrition
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Child under nutrition continues to be a challenge to global development, especially in resource-poor contexts. In the multifaceted attempts to address this challenge, popular traditional practices, although closely linked to infant health, remain neglected and less researched. The World Health Organization’s recent strategy on traditional medicine systems provides overarching guidance in this regard. In this commentary, we attempt to exemplify this. We highlight the importance of traditional child care practices with regard to child nutrition and the need for trans-disciplinary research to explore the potential of these for public health. Infant oil massage appears to be a potentially beneficial practice for child nutrition. Rigorous trans-disciplinary research on traditional infant massage can provide simple solutions to address child under nutrition and nurture human capabilities globally.
KEYWORDS: Child care, nutrition, public health, traditional medicine, massage, complementary therapy, infant care, child nutrition
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