Malnutrition
I chose this topic because I understand how devastating severe malnutrition can be. My grandfather died this year from severe malnutrition. He was having problems swallowing and could not eat. He even had trouble swallowing liquid. We were trying to find out what was causing his problems, but by the time we started getting answers after many months of doctor visits and tests, it was too late. Malnutrition is a severe problem in the world. 925 million people in the world do not have food to eat. In developing countries, 1 out of 4 children younger than age 5 are underweight. People can become malnourished if they do not get the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals they need. The most common deficiency is iron and leads to Anemia. In Cambodia, 44% of children under 5 have stunted growth. As a result of poor nutrition, 28% of children under 5 are underweight. One out of 12 children die from malnutrition before they turn 5. Malnutrition causes people not to be able to resist infection very well, and they are less likely to survive common diseases. Poor growth and development leaves them physically and mentally impaired for life. AmeriCares provides meal packs that contain nutrients needed for healthy diets for 6 to 18 weeks. They found major reversals in malnutrition with these. Shanouk Center for HOPE found 9 out of 10 children improved their BMI enough to not be considered underweight. This information may impact my future work. You never know when you will be working with a child that may become malnourished or the child may have a family member that dies from malnutrition.
References
AmeriCares http://www.americares.org
Kids Health http://www.kidshealth.org
Over one-third of all child deaths are due to malnutrition, mostly from increased severity of disease. Malnourished children who survive tend to start school late, are more likely to drop out, and have lower adult earnings. Poverty is an undeniably significant factor in child malnutrition, but in many high-burden countries, malnutrition rates are much higher than in other countries with similar national income. At the household level, in many countries malnutrition rates are surprisingly high even in the wealthiest quintile of households. These facts indicate that concerted efforts must be taken to reduce malnutrition; income growth does not automatically solve the problem. A variety of actions are needed, including agricultural and the provision of safe drinking water and sanitation, education about and support for better diets, and quality health services.. Nutrition education is also beneficial.
ReplyDeleteResource
Nemer L, Gelband H, Jha P; Commission on Macroeconomics and Health. The evidence base for interventions to reduce malnutrition in children under five and school-age children in low- and middle-income countries. CMH working paper no WG5:11. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2001
crystal, First I want to offer my condolences for your grandfather. I know that had to be very difficult to witness. Second, I agree that malnutrition is very important and even more so with children who have no control over what they are given to eat. I have experience with children who I believed were malnutrition and sometimes people are quick to overlook especially in small children. We are so overly concerned with children being obese that we can easily overlook those children who may be malnutrioned because it "appears" that they are healthy. I believe it is important for those of us in the early childhood field to be familiar with height and weight ratios and what raises a red flag in those areas. Hopefully, we can stop trouble before it starts. Some parents think just because they are feeding their child food that they are healthy. We have to inform parents of proper nutrition.
ReplyDeleteThank you for such an eye opening post.