Malnutrition.
Exists in 815 million people.
It’s a word we hear so often, but what does malnutrition really look like?
Malnutrition refers to when a person’s diet does not provide enough nutrients or the right balance of nutrients for optimal health.
So… here’s the rundown, or as I like to call it, malnutrition 101. 🥑
**Note: Malnutrition can be over-nutrition or undernutrition
Good news! Malnutrtiton can be prevented! Here’s how:
*Disclaimer: In no way is this article supposed to provide medical advice, so if you do have any concerns, please speak to a medical professional
The most important thing, in preventing malnutrition is eating a balanced diet, and a variety of foods from these food groups:
- Lots of fruits and vegetables 🌽
- Lot’s of startchy foods like bread, pasta, rice, etc.
- Dairy products 🥛
- Some protein sources (Fish, eggs, beans, etc.)
The key here is a balanced diet, and though it sounds simple, Bill Gates said:
Nutrition is the biggest missed opportunity in global health — Bill Gates
Considering that the malnutrition continues to be a problem, what factors could hinder someone’s ability to be properly nourished?
Six Underlying/Root causes of malnutrition
Food for thought: 🍪
Many people can’t afford healthcare, which means they have to prevent getting sick. To prevent getting sick, they have to intake a proper diet. But if they can’t afford nourishing food, why might that be?
1. Lack of Access to food
People in this position may not have food markets near or a lack of transportation. However, assuming markets are available, what if the cost of the food isn’t affordable?
2. Conflicts
As violence escalates, and people are forced to flee, farms and fields are abandoned. With many populations dependent on them, pricing will increase as a result of the supply chain being cut off. This can result in many people being unable to obtain sufficient and affordable food, especially in remote areas.
3. Climate Change ⛅️
Climate change can hinder crop growth, which also results in trouble raising livestock.
The infrastructure used for food production can also become damaged by natural disasters.
4. Lack of Safe Drinking Water 💧
With a lack of potable water, poor sanitation, and dangerous hygiene practices, there is an increase in vulnerability to infectious and water-borne diseases.
5. Health Conditions
Malnutrition itself weakens metabolism, therefore, when it is paired with any disease, it creates a vicious cycle of infection and undernourishment; causing vulnerability to illness. For example, tuberculosis, measles, and diarrhea are directly linked to acute malnutrition.
HIV and AIDS have become a leading cause of acute malnutrition in developing countries, and anti-retroviral drugs are used for treatments. The downside is that these drugs and treatments aren’t as effective on a malnourished person 🥗.
Essentially, HIV and AIDS can cause acute malnutrition but the drug used for treatment isn’t as effective on an inadequete diet.
Mental health conditions like depression, schizophrenia, or anorexia, can also affect a person’s desire to eat. Dementia can also cause one to neglect well-being, therefore, forgetting to eat 🧠.
3 of the Current Malnutrition Treatments
1. RUTF
RUFT: Ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) are energy- dense, micronutrient enhanced pastes used in therapeutic feeding.
RUTF’s are used to treat uncomplicated forms of acute malnutrition in children. RUTF’s allow children to be treated for malnutrition from home rather than from the hospital. They are typically made from a peanut butter base with oil, powdered milk, sugar, and added vitamins or minerals. Because they are “Ready to use”, no water is needed to prepare the food, reducing exposure to water-borne bacteria. They don’t require a refrigerator to be stored and can last up to 5 years!
To bring a child back to full health, it will only take 45 days by using three packets daily, each $1.
2. Supplements and Vitamins
Nutritional deficiencies are a type of malnutrition, and resulting in a person lacking many micronutrients. Vitamin B, D, iron, iodine, and zinc, are just a few. In children specifically, a who are deficient in vitamin A are at an increased risk of blindness and death.
Therefore, supplements are taken to increase the number of vitamins and minerals in the body. The problem with this is that vitamins don’t balance out the nutrient levels in the body, they only add.
According to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, high levels of vitamin A have been linked to causing birth defects, and hip fractures in older adults.
3. Parenteral Nutrition
Patients that aren’t able to eat or absorb nutrients from the food taken by the mouth may resort to parenteral nutrition. It works using a tube inserted in the gastrointestinal tract until it reaches the stomach or small intestine. Tube feeding is mostly used for patients who suffer from inflammatory bowel disease or burns. For patients who require long-term feeding, the tube is directly placed into the stomach or small intestine through an incision in the abdomen.
That’s a wrap! (Summary)
Yes, haha, that is a wrap, and it looks delicious. 😋
In conclusion, malnutrition can be prevented with a proper diet (not including malabsorption), however, malnutrition still affects over 815 million people! Many root causes exist but the 5 we explored in this article are lack of access to food, conflict, climate change, lack of safe drinking water, and a person’s health conditions.
Nutrition is a cycle and it starts with the food we intake.
There is hope though because many treatments like RUTF’s (for more serious conditions), vitamins, and parenteral nutrition are current solutions tackling this problem!
Thanks for joining me as we explore this topic together!
xo,
Nancy Shnoudeh
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