Malnutrition
Malnutrition has been a trend that has been ongoing since time in memorial, it has plagued several world leaders to consider ways to combat it from their various countries but it still lingers till this day and era. Malnutrition can be defined as any health condition that develops when the human body does not get all its needed nutrients, in other words malnutrition starts to develop when the body is deprived of all the important nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients that it needs to maintain healthy tissues and proper organ function. In our modern world malnutrition is often being referred to as under nutrition, which is mostly caused by eating a diet that lacks adequate calories and protein or by not eating enough quality foods. Although malnutrition is common in less developed or developing countries, it is also present in developed countries as well, malnutrition in wealthier countries is likely to be caused by unhealthy diets which include fats, and carbohydrates.
Effects of malnutrition
Malnourishment in a child can cause several issues such as shortness or under growth for their age, thinness or over bloated bodies, they tend to be listless, and have weakened immune systems. These nutritional disorders can affect any system in the child’s body and can cause them to lose their sense of taste, sight, and smell. They may also show some psychiatric symptoms, anxiety, and changes in mood swing.
Recent global data on malnutrition shows that malnutrition is responsible for nearly half of the death of children worldwide, with most of these children under the ages of six. These statistics suggests that, there should be some serious consideration of allocations of funds towards ending maln...
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...hat are vital to a child's growth. In areas that kwashiorkor is rampant, we tend to see it develop after a mother weans her child from breast feeding, and replaces breast milk with foods that are high in carbohydrates but contain low levels of protein.
The telling signs of kwashiorkor in a child who is malnourished is called “pedal edema” which is the swelling of the feet and ankles. Other signs include a bloated abdomen, loss of teeth thinning of hair, skin depigmentation and dermatitis. A child with kwashiorkor will most likely develop irritability and anorexia, also they fail to produce antibodies following vaccination against diseases, including typhoid and diphtheria. Generally, Kwashiorkor can be treated by eating foods high in protein; however, it has a long-term impact on a child's mental and physical development, and may lead to death in some severe cases.
World hunger is a very important epidemic because of the risks or implications it imposes on the rest of the world. Juveniles are the utmost apparent victims of under-nutrition. 2.6 million children die as a result of hunger-related causes each year. 66 million school-aged children go to classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone. One in four of the world's youth are kept from growing due to malnutrition. In developing countries the proportion can rise to one in three. A strong maternal-infant bond provided through psychosocial stimulation is essential for positive child development. The formation of this bond at the beginning of life is an essential step that sets the stage for cognitive,emotional, and social development later in life. Feeding and other care practices provide opportunities for psychosocial stimulation and help to establish a positive attachment between caregiver and child.(WHO) Under-nutrition magnifies the effect of every disease, such as measles,diarrhea and malaria. Asia has the largest number of hungry people (over 500 million) however S...
It is not recommended that GDM patients restrict their calorie intake from normal values. A decreased caloric intake can lead to increased levels of ketones in the serum of the mother. This increased ketone level has been associated with a decrease in psychomotor development and a reduction in IQ of the child between the ages of 3-9 years. Furthermore, it is important to not increase fat intake (particularly if choosing to reduce carbohydrate intake to 40% but struggling to maintain total caloric intake). An increase to a high fat diet has been correlated with a recurrence of GDM in future years.
Nutritionism is an ideology that believes that the nutrients in foods are the key to understanding them. Nutritionism believers are so focused on the nutrients that food contains that they forget about all other aspects of food. The problem is that consumers rely on packaging to tell them what nutrients a food provides, since nutrients cannot be obviously seen, and they rely on science to tell us what nutrients are good and which are “evil”.
Nutritional anthropology applies the anthropological approach to nutritional disciplines by studying and understanding how the interactions of social and biological factors affect the nutritional status of individuals and populations. Dettwlyer conducted a medical anthropological research assessing the nutritional status of individuals living in a population in Mali, Africa. She defined it as to be a biocultural approach because the research did not only pertain to the biological system of the people but cultural dogmas, infant feeding practices, socio-economic status, political-ecological factors also contributed as much. Death rates and child malnutrition rates are very high in Mali, it being one of the poorest countries of the world. Therefore, Dettwlyer being a nutritional anthropologist extends her study to the children of Mali who are malnutritioned as a result of their birth in poor families; because their mothers have a low status in their prosperous extended family households; ethno-cultural tenets, etc.
Numerous children are victims of a variety of health problems inflicted by the deficiency of good nutrition and physical activity. Childhood obesity is a national epidemic and is continuously growing rapidly. Obesity is an excessive amount of body fat in relation to body mass, being overweight is your body weight in relation to your height (L. Marcus Ph. D and A. Baron M.S.W.). Obesity is the most distinct medical condition but the most difficult condition to treat. Obesity is the result of calorie imbalance. Obesity is commonly caused by overeating and lack of exercise although there are genetic diseases and hormonal disorders that can cause obesity. When children eat more than they need, the extra calories are stored in fat cells to use for energy later. If this pattern continues over time, they develop more fat cells and may develop obesity. Childhood obesity will cause physical, social and emotional adversities for your child
These include diseases such as rickets which is caused by a lack of vitamin D. A lack of calcium leads to poor growth in children. At this tender life stage this is a very negative thing because children are still at the peak of their physical development. The malnutrition could have caused stunting which is because the malnutrition hinders growth in their height and weight. Sometimes stunted growth can be permanent and a child may never be able to return to a normal height or weight.
The symptoms of celiac disease in children usually occur when the child is taken off milk and started on solid food (familydoctor.org editorial staff, 2010). Celiac, in children, most readily affects their growth. Such as delayed puberty, poor weight gain, slowed growth and shorter than normal height for t...
There are many different kinds of effects that come from not consuming the right amount of the nutrients everyday. Receiving the right amount is key especially for children ages zero to three years old. Some physical effects in early-aged children is the inability to fully develop in growth and their ability to fight infections is very weak. Other physical conditions found in children are chronic health issues such as, asthma and Cystic Fibrosis, also many children find themselves needing to be hospitalized. Mental effects are taken into account as well, because many children experience behavioral consequences and challenges: Children also suffer from anxiety and aggression issues. Young children are not only people affected from lack of nutrients, but adults experience both physical and mental problems too. Adults are not as affected by not getting the accurate amount of nutrients, these ages unfortunately do not get to live a...
During this time children have growths spurts. Although children’s BMI is usually at minimum during this stage, during the growth spurts their BMI will increase. This leading to a behavioral change of increased appetite. It is important for parents to teach children at this age to make healthy eating choices. Becoming over weight as a child can lead to early puberty and looking older than their actually age. This can cause parents and other adults to treat the child as if they are older. A great intervention for this issue is the Nutrition integrity in schools. This ensures that children are being feed foods that are consistent with the U.S. dietary guidelines for Americans and the Dietary References intakes.
Known as the most widespread and most common nutritional disease in major developing countries Kwashiorkor is a very serious condition. The condition of Kwashiorkor is a form of malnutrition where a young child is not getting the protein they need in their diet, yet at the same time they are getting enough calories. It usually affects children between the ages of one to three, but studies show it can develop at any age ("Human nutrition in the developing world", n.d.). While the disease is rarely seen here in the United States and developing countries, it is a very dominant disease and very wide spread in sub-suburban Africa, Southeast Asia and Central America ("Human nutrition in the developing world", n.d.). When this disease does present itself in the United Stat...
In 1798, the political economist Thomas Malthus referred to extensive hunger as a natural system that ensured a properly sized population that was balanced with the food supply, and the global population adapted this idea as their view on world hunger (Dando 197). It was not until the 1970s when this idea began to be truly challenged. Today, commercials displaying starving African children are no rare sight. In Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 33 million children under 5 are malnourished (Stanford 46). Everyone is aware of the hunger crisis, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, but what causes this extreme hunger is not quite as well known. Hunger has stemmed from several political, economic, and environmental issues: poverty traps, climate change,
In order to prevent kwashiorkor from ever developing, it is important to make sure to follow the nutritional guidelines and have a balanced diet of carbohydrates, fat, and protein. Kwashiorkor can most simply be prevented by making sure that a child eats enough protein after they are weaned off of their mother’s milk (Rossouw 1989). Often times, in third world countries the children are weaned off their mother’s milk and then put onto a maize diet that does not offer adequate amounts of protein rich food. The Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) “for protein is 0.66 grams of protein/kg of body weight. The EAR for protein increases during pregnancy, breastfeeding, period of rapid growth, or recovery from serious illnesses, blood losses, and burns” (Schiff 2013). The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that 10 to 35 percent of a person’s daily caloric intake come from protein. Furthermore, in order to prevent kwashiorkor from developing, children ages 1-3 years need to have 5-20 percent of their energy from protein, children ages 4-18 years need 10-30 percent from protein, and adults need 10-35 percent protein. In other words, kwashiorkor is an avertible disease that can be prevented if infants and children are consuming at
In the rural areas, the children suffer from basic health problems and malnutrition. They suffer from diseases such as iron deficiency anemia and intestinal worms, due to the lack of nutrition from the food they eat and the poor hygiene conditions they live in.
Malnutrition is one of the most important underlying causes of child mortality in developing countries, particularly during the first 5 years of life (Pelletier, D.L., 1995), the major causes for this are poverty, world conflicts, lack of education, natural disasters and poor access to health care. PCM usually manifests early in children between 6 months and 2 years of age and is associated with early weaning, delayed...
“Every hour of every day, 300 children die of malnutrition.” (more children going hunry) Even though there are many, many programs out there, still children are suffering immensely because of mallnutrition.“The report says 15 million more children are suffering from chronic malnutrition in Africa compared to 1990.” (African news service). That 's just in Africa imagine the numbers of children suffering around the world. “Malnutrition is attributed to a third of all child deaths worldwide, or 2.6 million per year.” (African news service). 2.6 million deaths per year and that 's just from mallnutrition.“Half of the world 's malnourished children live in five countries - Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, India and Bangladesh - where 50 per cent of all families have been forced to cut back on food.”(African news service).For you to grasp the whole impact of malnutrition you need the facts.”with over one billion children living in poverty, 400 million lacking clean drinking water, and 165 million under the age of 5 experiencing stunted growth because of malnutrition.” (Justin Turner) Along with malnutrition there is the fact of the effects on the child 's mental status. “Due to lack in resources, poor social and health related behaviors are common.”(children in poverty) these kids that go through this tend to have health concerns