How to Boost Brain Development in Children
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A newborn baby’s brain contains about 100 billion
neurons. Between the ages of 0 to 5 years, a child’s brain experiences a dynamic phase of growth-producing over a million neural connections every second.
There are many factors that affect brain development
in children, and some of them include the environment, a child’s attachment, and
skills.
If a child is exposed to a helpful environment, the
brain’s neural connection adapts better and has a better chance of becoming
wired together.
This makes the child develop rich reasoning, planning, and language skills. As a parent, there are different ways you can ensure your child has proper brain development.
Here are some ways to boost brain development in children.
Quit Smoking during Pregnancy
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To ensure that your child has a proper growth rate, it
actually starts right before the child is born. You can do this by quitting
smoking during pregnancy; by so doing you do not expose your unborn baby to
secondhand smoke.
Smoking during pregnancy is one of the prevalent causes
of low birth weight in children.
Smoking is the number one cause of adverse outcomes for
babies.
Cigarette smoke has harmful chemicals that can be
destructive to your baby’s brain cells. When you smoke during pregnancy, these
toxic chemicals are transported via the bloodstream through the placenta to
your unborn child.
Smoking during pregnancy negatively affects fetal brain
development; according to a 2015 study published in Acta paediatrica.
Not only that, but it has also been discovered that brain
structure and function have been altered in children exposed to prenatal
smoking.
This can subsequently lead to behavioral problems, poor
learning ability, poor brain development, and low IQs in children.
Breastfeed Your Baby
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Breast Milk is essential for newborn babies, which is why
exclusive breastfeeding is highly recommended. Breast milk helps build up your
baby’s immune system as well as proper brain development.
The cholesterol and fat found in breast milk aid proper
brain development.
Breastfeeding is associated with a higher cognitive
level, at least in males; this is according to a 2010 study published in
Pediatric Research.
Expert reveals that preterm babies who were fed more breast milk within the first 28
days of life had larger volumes of certain regions of the brain at term
equivalent and had better IQs, academic achievement, working memory and motor
function.
Exclusive breastfeeding in the first few weeks of your baby’s life contributes immensely to intelligence and motor skills.
Introduce Music Early
Early introduction of music into your child’s life can
also, enhance their brain development.
Maybe you never knew music promotes cognitive health. In
fact, music leads to the release of dopamine which spurs motivation to keep
learning.
Music can also make studying fun and help children
assimilate things in a much better way.
Also, introducing your child to music lessons at a
younger age can make a significant difference in your child’s brain
development.
Research shows a strong connection between musical training and brain development.
It was also discovered that young children taking music
lessons have better brain development and improved memory over the course of a
year as compared to children not receiving musical training.
Another study reveals that musical training before the age of 7 helps in brain development.
According to the report, children who started taking music lessons at a tender
age had better connections across the corpus callosum, which connects the left
and the right hemisphere of the cerebrum.
Feed Your Child Healthy Food
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The habit of eating healthy food is very important in
your child’s brain development.
Growing babies need good nutrition for proper physical
and mental development.
While feeding your baby, avoid fast food, junk food,
processed food, and beverages loaded with artificial sweeteners. These foods do
not provide the necessary nutrients to your child and even cause harm to their
health.
Importantly, allow your baby to eat with their hands
(ensure they wash their hands properly before eating) to help develop fine
motor skills. This helps your child to explore texture, understand what foods
do, develop hand-eye coordination, and have fun while eating.
Strictly Limit Screen Time
No matter how busy you are, you should try as much as
possible to limit your child’s screen time.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (APP),
there should be no screen time for children under 2 years of age. For older
children, screen time should be limited to just a couple of hours a day.
Too much exposure to screen for younger children is linked
to impaired academic performance, less time for creative play and contributes
to problems like sleep problems, violence, and behavioral issues.
Another challenge is that increased screen time means
less communication between you and your child. Such communication is important
for your child’s overall development.
However, unadjusted analyses revealed lower cognitive
abilities among individual who had more hours of TV exposure during infancy,
depending on maternal, child, and household characteristics.
Read Books to Your Child
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As a parent, you must have time to expose your child
early to books by constantly reading books to your child.
Make it a routine by reading something interesting to
your child. Even though they won’t recognize the words, they start
understanding you are getting information from books, magazines, and
newspapers.
By so doing, your child will soon develop an interest in
books and reading.
An expert opinion that reading to young children is associated with differences in brain
activity, which can help with language acquisition and literacy skills.
Parents are encouraged to begin reading to their children
right from birth to foster early learning and create connections in the brain
that promote language development.
Spend Time with Your Little One
You need to spend valuable time with your child to ensure
proper brain development.
Language and speech development begins at birth, so while
breastfeeding say something or sing a song to your baby. When you go outside,
point things out to your child and name and explain them.
Some acts such as talking with your child, visiting the
park with them, enjoying meals together, reading together and hanging out
together can greatly enhance your child’s brain development.
Exercise is Important
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In fact, regular physical exercise can prove much an effective method in ensuring better cognitive development in your child at an
early age.
It can also help boost memory and improve learning
capabilities, at the same time, reducing the risk of cognitive impairment and
dementia in later stages of life.
What’s more, exercise also helps improve blood
circulation and oxygen to the brain. This ensures proper nerve functioning that
enhances your child’s overall physical cognitive and psychological health.
A study reveals that systematic exercise programs may actually enhance the development
of specific types of mental processing known to be important for meeting
challenges encountered both in academics and throughout life.
Similarly, another study published in Brain Research
reports that children who are physically fit have a bigger hippocampus and
perform better on a memory test than their less-fit peers.
Say No to Caffeine
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Caffeine can be found in soft drinks, teas, energy drinks
and some variety of chewing gums marketed to children and young adults.
Excessive caffeine can hamper a child’s brain development.
Too much of caffeine can disrupt the formation of key
connections in the brain and can affect behavioral and structural markers of
brain maturation.
A study that pubescent
lab rats that consumed caffeine experienced reduced deep sleep and delayed
brain development.
Limit and moderate the rate at which your child consume
caffeine.
Buy Creative Toys
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You can invest in creative toys as they help to ensure
good brain development in children.
Getting your child creative toys helps your child develop
skills that include copying, language, and communication, emotional regulatory,
cognitive flexibility and social skills.
They do not necessarily have to be expensive, the object
of play must be simple and safe and allow imagination to flourish, freedom of
movement and range of complexity.
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