The first 1000 days in life

Key thought: A person’s life journey in the first 1000 days and the investments therein is the key to his future productivity and returns.

We all begin our life’s journey as a single complete cell. Our mother’s womb provides the perfect place for our formation. Her blood vessels supply us with the oxygen and nutrition that we need. Beginning from the first few weeks of organ formation, it is by nine months we are ready to face the outside world. Once we are born, it is during our first two years the rest of our formation take place; we learn to develop our motor skills, social skills, mental abilities that shape the fine and important attributes like intelligence, emotions and dreams.

This period encompassing the time in our mother’s womb till the second birthday is known as the first 1000 days of life. The investments made in our lives during this period has an amazing propensity to determine our destinies. Whether we are destined to grow well mentally and physically, have a good education, good job and contribute well to society. Or whether, we are destined to lag behind!

Experts say that investments in nutrition, health and sanitation in the first 1000 days of life will give us amazing returns. A ten times more likelihood to overcome the most life threatening diseases of childhood; the chance to complete 4.6 more grades at school; the possibility of earning 21% more in wages as an adult; and the likelihood as adults to have healthier families.
All this provides a solid case to invest our time, energy and resources during the first 1000 days of life.

Action: As a manager how will you allocate the resources available with you and your team for worthwhile investments for all mothers and children in your areas during their first 1000 days?

https://thousanddays.org/

http://www.hmhb.org/2014/03/1000-days-matter/








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