Pay Attention To Your Child, Dr Kitaka Tells Parents

(This article was first published in the New Vision on January 29, 2023)

By Kellen Owente

The first ever New Vision Education Expo ended on a high on Sunday with one of the training sessions on early childhood development and education.

The three-day expo got under way on Friday at the Uganda Institute of Information and Communications Technology in Nakawa, Kampala.

On the final day of the expo, participants were equipped with diverse knowledge on early child education and what one needs to do to raise an emotionally, physically and socially healthy child. 

This training session was facilitated by Dr. Sabrina Kitaka (pictured below), a renowned paediatrician.

Kitaka advised mothers to always ensure that they breastfeed their newborn babies for at least six months to minimise the risk of the babies contracting illness. 

She said that it is key to ensure they monitor their children’s social, cognitive, play and communication skills at a young age. 

For example, it is important to detect cases of autism, which usually occurs as a result of other illnesses. These may include; epilepsy, developmental syndromes, turners, tuberculosis, metabolic disorders, depression and anxiety and other psychiatric disorders. 

“As a parent, it is important to be very observant of your child, especially how they speak, think, and in all other ways. Once you find these disorders, please do not neglect them. Instead, support them. Many people see them as losers because they are slow learners, which is very wrong,” said Kitaka.

Also related: 115 pictures from Day 3 of education expo

Children and phones

For adolescents, she emphasised that while parents may think of cellphones as a safety tool, there are many risks attached to children and adolescents spending too much time on the phone. 

One of them is poor communication. 

Kitaka called for availability for dialogue between parents and their children.

The vastly experienced paediatrician said if there is anything wrong or misguided, the parents should gently explain what is generally held to be true and show affection instead of embarrassing them when something goes wrong. 

“Avoid too much control and being too bossy,” she cautioned.

“As a parent, you should give your children enough room to learn how to be self-confident and to make decisions without looking for constant parental advice.”