Original article link here: https://www.chl-pacific.org/2024/11/25/chl-fs-pilot-projects-feature-american-samoa-department-of-healths-the-first-1000-days-intervention/
The Children’s Healthy Living Food Systems Extension and Outreach (CHL FSEO) Pilot Projects were selected for funding in September 2023 and are currently being implemented in 2024. Projects were selected by local advisory committees based on their ability to engage and empower communities to influence the food system to support the health of young children in the US Affiliated Pacific. In today’s feature, we are happy to introduce one of the projects from American Samoa.
Jurisdiction: American Samoa
Project Title: The First 1,000 Days Intervention
Organization: American Samoa Department of Health
The first 1,000 days of life span from roughly the time between conception and a child’s second birthday. According to UNICEF, the first 1,000 days is a unique window of opportunity for optimizing brain development to support strong foundations that last a lifetime. Adequate nutrition is critical to building these foundations1. As such, the American Samoa Department of Health (DOH) worked with community health centers and conducted home visits to inform and guide project proposal development. Through these interactions and data collected from nutrition counseling, referrals, and from various critical life stages, DOH identified key indicators reflecting areas of opportunity in the first 1,000 days including: (1) prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding, (2) timing of the introduction of complementary foods, and (3) weight status of children.
DOH aims to implement a Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative to improve breastfeeding-related practices2. The project will support training, community engagement, and the implementation of standardized procedures and practices to increase exclusive breastfeeding. DOH will work with the Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) Hospital and a community setting to establish American Samoa’s first baby friendly settings. The primary activities include training all relevant units in LBJ and key community-based leaders on the UNICEF/WHO Infant Young Child Feeding Training. The project will also address baby friendly setting policies to support establishment and implementation of supportive practices. Another policy-related initiative is increasing awareness and enforcement of recommendations in the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in these settings.
Overall, DOH’s project will improve policies and environments aimed at improving the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding. DOH will also work to document and identify areas of strengths and improvement in the implementation of this project. Such activities will strengthen DOH’s capacity to expand and build on the successes of this project to further improve other environments in the critical early development of infants and young children in American Samoa.
Contact information: Email the CHL FSEO at [email protected].
References
- Sarah Cusick & Michael K. Georgieff. (n.d.). The first 1,000 days of life: The brain’s window of opportunity. UNICEF: For Every Child | Office of Research-Innocenti. Retrieved January 22, 2024, from https://www.unicef-irc.org/article/958-the-first-1000-days-of-life-the-brains-window-of-opportunity.html
- UNICEF. (n.d.). Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. UNICEF: For Every Child. Retrieved January 22, 2024, from https://www.unicef.org/documents/baby-friendly-hospital-initiative
