Health Journey of a Woman- Childhood

“The journey of a woman is endless”. From childhood to adulthood to old age, women in their lifetime face many health issues and get affected differently than men. Women throughout their life experience certain biological, social and behavioural conditions that make their journey filled with lots of experiences and ups and downs. Let’s explore the very first step of this journey- childhood!

Let’s take a look at the various health changes that a girl child may experience throughout their journey of childhood

Early Puberty in women than men: The onset of puberty in the case of girls is much earlier than in boys. Puberty occurs in the girl between the ages of 10 to 14 and boys between the age of 12 to 16. Puberty signs in women involve breast development, the release of hormones such as leptin (a hormone that is produced by fat cells in our body) in high concentration in girls than boys and growth of body hair.

Precocious puberty: Nowadays the onset of puberty for girls is occurring earlier and earlier, even at an age of 6 or 8 years – this phenomenon is defined as precocious puberty. The emotional risks of such puberty are quite high as the body matures way before the brain does. It is caused by hereditary factors, nervous system abnormalities or tumors of ovaries.

Iron intake in diet: Iron is a mineral that is responsible for making up of red blood cells in the body that helps as a carrier of oxygen. Inadequate amounts of iron may develop anaemia and are mostly seen in women. Teenage girls having heavy menstrual periods and pregnant women are at high risk of developing anaemia in case of deficiency of iron in their bodies. The ideal level of iron intake in women should be 15 mg/day (milligrams per day) for the females aged between the age of 14 to 18 years, 18 mg/day for the females aged between the age of 19 to 50 years. As compared to this, in males the ideal intake should be 11mg/day for the ages of a male between the ages of 14 to 18 years, 8 mg/day for the ages of men between the age of 19 years and above. Therefore, for a girl child- the focus should be given to include high iron rich foods in the diet from the beginning. The sources of iron in our diet involve whole grains, peanuts, spinach, kale, broccoli, fish, dried fruits and nuts.

Girl Child Health Condition in Rural India: India is the only country in the world where young girls have worse under-five mortality than boys. Even before a girl child enter teengae, they face many challenges like forced marriage, child labour or in some areas genital mutilation. Girl child might also be used as a source of revenue generation by parents and this can really dip down below standards. There is as much as 80% of child labour among pwople living below poverty line and kids rarely reach till class 5.All this can put a girl child under a lot of phyiscal and mental strain that can affect her health severly in coming years.

Nutrition Requirement of Girl Child: Girls and boys both need proper nutrition to optimize growth and development, and maintain healthy body weights. There might just be a slight difference in calorie requirements, but nutrition needs are generally the same for boys and girls ages 1 to 13, according to the Institute of Medicine. Kids ages 9 to 13 require 34 grams of protein daily, regardless of gender. However, protein needs of teen boys ages 14 to 18 are higher than those of teenage girls within the same age range. It’s best to consult a qualified nutritionist to assess the best diet plan for your girl child.

Over to you

Overall, increased awareness of these above mentioned nutritional, iron requirements and biological changes are essential for a woman to head start and make ways for healthy living.