01 Apr 2021UCL Professor Monica Lakhanpaul, who leads on the ARC North Thames Nurture Early for Optimal Nutrition (NEON) study, discusses her research on the critical first 1000 days of life for the BBC World Service Health Check podcast.
Monica spoke with presenter Claudia Hammond on why the first 1000 days of a baby's life is such a critical window of opportunity for social, cultural and health interventions, and her new exhibition that hopes to highlight this key period in a child’s development.
Monica also talks about the idea of Reverse Innovation: lessons that higher income countries can learn from lower- and middle-income countries when it comes to health, and how these lessons have informed more culturally-appropriate and effective health support in the UK.
Listen to the BBC Health Check podcast.
The Nurture Early for Optimal Nutrition (NEON) study is a community-based approach to help improve nutrition when a child is 6 months-2 years old, a key time in their development. The study trained members of the British-Bangladeshi community in East London as 'community researchers' and they were involved in every aspect of the study, from design and data collection through to analysis and interpretation.
This inclusive, co-designed approach has led to improved nutrition and feeding practices, maternal and neonatal survival rates. and has informed Tower Hamlets and Newham Local Authority early year programmes.
