One of the most ignored aspect of our health is what we eat.
The problem of nutrition also called malnutrition is all over the globe manifesting in different forms.
I did a research on malnutrition in my local community, focusing more on the under-five children.
However I will talk about the Malnutrition in broader terms.
The problem of food is either too much food
Or too little food.
In developing and under developed countries too little food manifest more especially in children.
Ironically the problem of too much food is more visible in adult population.
In developed countries where lack of food has been controlled to a great extent.
Too much food becomes a significant problem.
Lack of food can also occur as a mental illness known as anorexia nervosa.
We will be discussing on food, and through a series of posts I'll be educating the community on food problems,the causes and how we can prevent and or control them.
A brief description of malnutrition and the burden is given below:
Malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and nutrients. The term malnutrition covers two broad groups of conditions. One is under nutrition which includes stunting (low weight for age), wasting (low weight for height), underweight (low weight for age) and micro nutrient deficiencies or insufficiencies (a lack of important vitamins and minerals). The other is overweight, obesity, and diet related non communicable diseases (such as heart diseases, stroke, diabetes and cancer.)
Malnutrition is estimated to contribute to 1/3 of all child deaths. Child malnutrition was associated with 54% of deaths in children in developing countries and has been described with increased frequency in hospitalised and chronically ill children in the United States. In 2015, the risk of a child dying before reaching his first birthday was highest in Africa, 55 per 1000 live births which is more than 5 times higher than that in Europe which has a rate of 10 deaths per 1000 live births (WHO). Children in sub-Saharan Africa are more likely to die before the age of 5 than children in developed countries from malnutrition (UNICEF).
This is an excerpt from my research.
I would not want to bore you with much information...
So stay tuned for my part 2 on nutrition.
Remember too less or too much of food can bring problems.
Also eating the wrong food such as junks can cause food problems.
Therefore watch out for the quality and quantity of what you eat.
Watch out for part 2 on Health and Nutrition.....