Toddler Development and Its Influences Research Paper

Toddler Development and Its Influences - Research Paper Example The article provides related information about infants to children aged below five years. A toddler is a child between the years of 1 to 3 years of age. This period of time is considered the most exciting and challenging times for both parents and pediatricians. The most evident and dramatic changes occur in language and interpersonal skills. Themes in affective development include the toddler’s striving for autonomy and independence from the parents, a continued importance of attachment with the family, and the initial work on achieving impulse control. Nutrition unlike any other factors has the ability to affect the child’s brain development both as an external and internal factor. It is considered external because if the foods needed to provide certain nutrients are not available the body lacks materials with which to create new brain cells, neurons and other brain structures (Rosales et.al, 2009). These nutrients include protein, zinc, iron and special fats among ot her nutrients. Nutrition is considered an internal facto because it directly affects the formation of the brain itself including the genetic makeup of the brain. At this age, the child is the inquisitive stage. This means that most of his activities require him to think more and ask questions. This means that his brain activities have increased and his brain is quite active in addition to growing. It is a tricky to feed children at this stage. This is because they are self-independent now and they have preferences for certain foods. Parents should provide several dishes in small portions. The dishes should be colorful and have nice flavors but at the same time have the nutritional value to promote brain development. It is important to understand that a balanced diet is essential in a child’s life as it is to any other individual. This applies to children yet to be born and those already born. It has been identified that pre-natal malnutrition has many negative effects on a ch ild. Some of these effects can be related to cognitive deficits, behavior problems, and low academic achievements. For this reason, it is essential to ensure that a child is provided with proper balance of nutrients so that there can be normal brain development (Rosales et.al, 2009). As stated above, nutrition is a major aspect during a child’s development. This is termed important because it causes reduction of cell production, has great effects on normal cell sizes, and changes their structural appearance. In addition to these effects, nutritional imbalance leads to low communication between cells in the brain. This is the reason such children seem to have lower academic performances or even perform lower in other areas. The potential impact of this research is that it can be of assistance to parents, nutritionists to provide appropriate diet for the toddler and how diet may prevent brain under development. The second scholarly article that was reviewed was written by Mitch ell S. J. and Cabrera N. J. and is called An Exploratory Study of Fathers’ Parenting Stress and Toddlers’ Social Development in Low-Income African American families. The date of the publication was the year 2009. The article attempts to find out the mediation effect on toddlers that fathers’ engagement has on them. The results indicate that there is moderate levels of parenting stress on the fathers, however the results do not indicate any direct effects of stress on