MALNUTRITION: The anomaly: Over and under weight

Thursday, March 17, 2011

As world nutrition experts gather this week at the WHO headquarters to discuss ways to fight global malnutrition, VOA News examines the growing issues of "undernutrition and obesity, which affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide."
While nearly four million children die each year from symptoms of undernutrition, "including underweight, and vitamin and mineral deficiency, particularly of vitamin A, iron, iodine and zinc," an estimated "43 million children over age five are overweight," according to the WHO. Of these, 35 million live in developing countries, the news service writes.
"We are seeing that often we have in the same countries, at the same time, the presence of undernutrition and overweight," Francesco Branca, WHO's director of Nutrition for Health and Development, said. "We have the greatest increase in overweight in Africa, particularly North Africa, and we now can say that perhaps the proportion of the number of children who are overweight is actually larger in developing countries than in developed countries," Branca added (Schlein, 3/16).
In Africa, "[t]he number of overweight … children under five has tripled to 13.5 million in 20 years," jumping from 4 percent of the total under-five population in 1990 to 8.5 percent in 2010, Agence France-Presse reports. "In Asia, the corresponding gain over the same period was from 3.2 percent to 4.9 percent," the news service notes.
"What we have seen in developing countries is that the offer of food is moving towards highly refined, industrial food which often have very high content of sugar and fat" and is "low in essential vitamins and minerals," Branca said, according to the news service.
Branca also noted how poor nutrition among pregnant women can lead to low birthweight infants, who are at an increased vulnerability to becoming overweight later in life. He added that "children with very low birthweight are less able to handle high energy density food"
http://globalhealth.kff.org/Daily-Reports/2011/March/17/GH-031711-Malnutrition.aspx

MALNUTRITION: India: PM-led nutrition panel to meet for first time in 2 years

Aradhana Sharma,  Nov 13, 2010,

NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister may have called malnutrition a "national shame", but it has taken him more than two years to focus his attention on it and finally conevene a meeting of the National Council on India's Nutritional Challenges. Though the PM-headed Council was formed in October 2008, it will hold its first meeting later this month.
Despite impressive economic growth, India has one of the poorest records in the world when it comes to malnutrition, particularly among children. At 43%, malnutrition among under-five children is worse than Sub-Saharan Africa. Around 28% infants in India are born underweight as opposed to just 4% in China. Under-five mortality rate in India stands at 69 as compared to 21 in China. Similarly, other wider indicators also paint a grim picture.
According to the global hunger index, India scores 24 on a scale of 100 as compared to China's 6 (The higher a country scores on the index, the worse is its standing).
The terms of reference of the Council were to give a direction to overcome the nation's nutritional challenges through coordinated inter-sectoral action.
Also, the Council was to review nutrition programmes every quarter. But, several quarters have been lost, thanks to the delay in holding the first meeting.
Experts maintain that an over-reliance on the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) to tackle the nutritional issue has backfired. The focus on anganwadis and mid-day meal schemes has narrowed the focus on the target group -- between three and six years.
However, recent studies have shown that maximum damage is done from the time a child is conceived till the time the baby is two years old -- a crucial phase when intervention is required. There is near unanimity that impact could be felt only if the scope of the programme is widened.
Most of the young children die, or are undernourished due to recurring infection and illness, making it imperative to address sanitation, potable water and sundry health issues simultaneously. A mother's health and education are also major contributing factor.
Dr Rajiv Tandon, a nutrition expert, falls back on "guarded optimism" to convey his sense of hope.
The PM's scathing remark has certainly pitchforked it in the national consciousness. Be that as it may, multi-pronged approach, integrated mechanism and, significantly, appropriate oversight is the need of the hour to translate it into actions on the ground.
As the recent UN's Human Development Report has shown, GDP growth does not automatically lead to better development indicators. According to the latest report, though India figured among the top 10 nations in terms of income growth, it fared rather poorly on the human development index.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6915211.cms?prtpage=1

India, malnutrition programs

Thus, while technical experts debate the relative merits and demerits of the approach to malnutrition in terms of the highly specific, targeted, narrowly focussed, and usually technical interventions, for child survival, malnourished children continue to slide into food insecurity and disempowerment along with their struggling families as a result of misdirected economic and agricultural policies.
The state of women’s health and food security is similarly symbolised by an equally recalcitrant and even more widespread nutritional anaemia. This is a failure in itself as far as women’s rights are concerned, but it is also the root cause of low birthweight, subsequent malnutrition and poor child survival. The overall empowerment of women, economic, political and social, also faces resistance that will have to be overcome before more targeted interventions for child survival and malnutrition can hope to be effective. Here, at least, the Women’s Reservation Bill moves in the right direction.
http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20100423270802700.htm