Research work · 1966
XI INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF PEDIATRICS TOKYO, NOVEMBER 1965 TEACHING NUTRITION IN PEDIATRICS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Pediatrics
Abstract
The teaching of nutrition of paediatric relevance will extend throughout the medical curriculum, including biochemistry, physiology, haematology, pathology, and so on. However, most "direct" teaching will be given by the Department of Paediatrics. At the same time, with the particularly close link between the health of the mother and child in developing regions, teaching of paediatric relevance, including antenatal or foetal nutrition and the significance of breast-feeding for survival, will obviously fall in part to colleagues in obstetrics. Likewise, consideration of the epidemiology of malnutrition, the development of preventive programmes and national policies fall partly within the realm of social medicine. Plainly, liaison, coordination, and combined sessions by these three disciplines are necessary. The teaching of nutrition for undergraduates in medical schools in developing regions must be down-to-earth, practical, and related to local reality, including finance, culture, and food availability. It must be developed as a living, dynamic subject of great interest, complexity, and importance. In particular, the immense potential for improvement by simple-seeming, preventive means needs major stress, especially through effective health education. The student must be trained not only to diagnose and treat the individual malnourished child, but also to recognize and analyse community causes and to think in terms of practical preventive programmes carried out in conjunction with a wide range of workers, many of whom will be from outside the medical field. In short, his interest must be aroused by practical participation, his compassion stirred, and his personal and continuing involvement assured for the years that lie ahead for him as a health worker.