Epidemiology Child malnutrition is a major public health issue that has been gaining attention in recent years. India is home to nearly 40% of the world’s malnourished children, one of the highest proportions of this population in the world. In India, 2.5 million children die annually and more than half of these deaths are preventable with proper nourishment. According to the Global Hunger Index, a measure of insufficient food availability, child malnutrition, and child mortality based on information captured by the United Nations, India is 96th out of 116 counties when it comes to hunger (von Braun, Ruel, & Gulati, 2008). In the eight Millennium Development Goals established by the World Bank, three goals pertain to child malnutrition: hunger, reducing child mortality, and improving maternal health (The World Bank, 2015). One of the reasons that child …show more content…
Fenske et al. organize factors that cause stunting in Indian children into underlying, intermediate, immediate, and non-modifiable factors (Figure 2) (Fenske, Burns, Hothorn, & Rehfuess, 2013). While stunting is one part of malnutrition, the intermediate determinants identified represent many of the pathways through which programs could aim to combat childhood malnutrition in India. Review of nutrition interventions in India to combat malnutrition such as breastfeeding, promotion of complementary feeding through education or food provision, and supplementation with single or multiple nutrients shows significant impacts on behavior related to malnutrition, but only modest impacts on reversing the effects of malnutrition (Fenske, Burns, Hothorn, & Rehfuess, 2013). Therefore, it is important to consider the many social determinants that affect childhood malnutrition in order to effectively treat and reverse the effects of
"Hunger and Malnutrition." KidsHealth - the Web's Most Visited Site about Children's Health. Ed. Mary L. Gavin. The Nemours Foundation, 01 May 2012. Web. 12 May 2014.
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...
UNICEF. "Approaches That Work." The State of the World's Children 1998: Focus on Nutrition. 13 March 2001. Online: http://www.unicef.org/sowc98/approach.htm.
The cause of most under nourished children in third world countries is poverty. Families in third world countries cannot afford food or their country does not have those resources. Villages in Africa often do not have the proper resources for safe food and water, which can cause children to get certain bacteria’s which will lead to under nutrition. (WHO, 2012)
According to the surveys carried out by many organizations, the maternal malnutrition predominate this low birt...
A considerable effort has been done in terms of defining the social issue of Child Hunger or hunger in general for policy purposes. Both private and public sectors, with the cooperation of the government agencies, privately funded advocate groups, and academic institutions have used the method to measure hunger by self-report of his or her own experience of suffering from hunger. (Lewit and Kerrebrock, 1997, Pg 129). According to Lewit and Kerrebrock (1997) poverty is defined as “an inadequate amount of food intake due to a lock of money or resources” (pg.129) or “The mental or physical condition that comes from not eating enough food due to insufficient economic, family, or community resources.” (pg.129). As it stands today, Hunger is now defined with the term “Food insecurity” which means families or individuals are unable to secure or afford nutritious safe food in order to have a healthy active lifestyle.
Since childhood I have seen commercials about kids in Africa who were dying of starvation. The commercials ended by asking the viewers to contribute spare money to help these children. These commercial prompted me think about how we could help these children and their mothers. I decided to research malnutrition in Sudan. Malnutrition is when people lack nutrients due to disorders of the digestive system or do not eat regular, well balanced meals. The next stage after malnutrition has worsen is starvation. I choose Sudan because of the genocide, Darfur, which has left the country in poverty. This paper looks at malnutrition among child-bearing woman and young girls, the evaluation process used to determine malnutrition and the criteria to separate
Malnutrition: Sub-Saharan Africa attempts at a comparative analysis of the dynamics and structure of malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa in concentration: Somalia and Ethiopia. The analysis of this paper can be viewed as an on-going discussion and investigation about the food hunger crisis as a diverting factor in malnutrition within Sub-Saharan Africa. Within the last 10 years, the area of Sub-Saharan African has grown by five percent per year; nonetheless, the Afrobarometer surveyed that thirty-four African countries (including Somalia and Ethiopia) has experience little change in poverty or food crisis among its population (Sy, “Jobless Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa”). According, to the International Labor Office (ILO) the data in 2013 it
In conclusion, hunger is a constant, chronic pain distressing many children. Famished children should have become a thing of the past a long time ago. The thought may seem impossible, but the world produces enough food to feed everyone. In the world as a whole, per capita food availability has risen from about 2220 kcal/person/day in the early 1960s to 2790 kcal/person/day in 2006-08, while developing countries also recorded a leap (2015 World Hunger and Poverty Facts and
Hunger, in addition to nuclear war, is complex issue which humanity is mostly concerned about in the world. One might claim that famine is the worst issue as there is no evidence if a nuclear war will occur, while the rate of starvation will rise higher and higher (Seebohm 1984, 3). Statistically, the total number of people suffering from hunger globally equals to approximately 1.02 billion (FAO 2009 quoted in Sui-Lin Nah and Chi-Fai Chau 2010, 544). Annually, famine and malnutrition, as major reasons, account for more than 50% of the mortality of children, which is around 6 million (FAO 2005 quoted in Sui-Lin Nah and Chi-Fai Chau 2010, 544). In the case of India, there are 1.2 billion inhabitants. A quarter of them are facing the problem of hunger seriously (Colin Clark 1972, 2019). As there is an accelerated growth and prosperity in India’s economy, the country is proposing possible ways of alleviating famine. One of India’s suggestions is the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the MGNREGA. Discussing advantages and limits of the program, this paper will demonstrate that India’s guarantee scheme can be considered a good solution for famine.
In our world today I believe it is terrible that developing countries across the world are in poverty, which is a leading cause of kids growing up malnourished. When children grow up deprived of the nutrients to support the bones in their body, the development will be damaged far before aging. Food insecurity remains a global problem all throughout the world; insecurity refers to when there is limited or uncertain access to foods. The average intake of the daily supply of calories per person is around two thousand a day. Throughout the world, many children cannot receive the dietary intake of calories, which then decreases their immune system causing diseases and poor health. In most developing countries, over half of the population is dying,
Food insecurity and poor nutrition is an alarmingly large problem for low income families, especially in developing countries. Many strategies exist to fight this problem, although not many of these address all the factors contributing to it along with all the possible solutions to solve it. In many cases, multiple strategies must correlate and work together so that all the determinants of this issue are addressed and can fight food insecurity from different angles. This essay will discuss the significance of the problem, a range of possible strategies to solve the problem, and go into detail on a select few that will correlate and work together to solve different factors of food insecurity and poor nutrition.
The inability to easily access food, or in other terms, food insecurity brings with it a number of negative effects to those affected, be it at individual, national or international level. Countries that have recorded a high rate of food insecurity for a long time start have citizens who exhibit signs of starvation and stunted growth. Individuals with stunted growth are prone to several diseases since starvation lowers their bodies’ capability to fight disease. Children who are exposed to starvation at an early age develop complications with their development. There are various causes of food insecurity varying from one country to the other. Some of the most common natural causes of food insecurity are water crises, climate change and degradation of land. Man made causes of food insecurity in the world include rapid population growth, dependence on fossil fuels and poor governance. This paper focuses on the effe...
“Malnourished children are 20% less literate than those with a healthier diet, says UK charity Save the Children” (The Information Daily). When parents become victims of poverty it can have some very unpleasing long and short term effects to their children. Parents in poverty have a lot on their plate and buying the best quality food or affording enough food can be a tumultuous task. Quality nutrition is essential for the development of the brain. At a young age, poor nutrition or not enough nutrition can seriously hinder “the brain 's development, a child’s ability to learn and has a devastating impact on a child’s future”(The Information Daily). “Malnutrition in the early developmental stages of the brain, by restricting the children’s cognitive growth, can lower a child 's IQ has much has 20 points”(The Information Daily). Long term effects of malnutrition leave permanent damage to the brain, however, malnutrition has short term effects as well. Malnourishment can greatly compromise a child’s immune system, making them more susceptible to infectious diseases. “Low counts of zinc, iron and vitamin A are commonly associated with weakened immune function” (Orphan Nutrition). A deadly infection can have a huge impact on a poverty stricken family leading to less affordability. Malnutrition negatively affects a student throughout their educational
In recent years people often suppose that the hunger might be understood as weakness caused by not enough nutrition. Actually, there are some different meanings between hunger and malnutrition. In general, they are existing as complex difficulty and people can not solve them separately. In some countries the percentage of hunger index is so high like in case of India. Moreover, the study of global hunger was shown that a great deal of humanity suffer from this issue every year. In order to fight with hunger it is important to understand basic principles which lead to happening of hunger. The main reasons for hunger occurring are environmental, political and economic conditions. To my mind, the environmental cause is the most important as land scarcity leads to poverty mostly in comparison with other ones. The purpose of this essay is to struggle with hunger by using agricultural project.