Essay on the Importance of Proper Nutrition for Food Security & Health

Food security is a significant issue of discussion because it affects the livelihoods of human beings. However, proper nutrition is one of the aspects of food security that have not been fully explored. The general health of a human being does not just depend on the availability of food but on food that offers the best nutrients needed by the body. When one does not have all the nutrients that they need, they are said to suffer from malnutrition. This condition which results from nutrient imbalance, brings about scores of health issues and affects the physical, mental health of an individual. Therefore, this paper aims at exploring and explaining the issue of malnutrition as a prevalent condition in low-income areas to significantly contribute to the existing research performed on the same topic in different places.

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Research demonstrates that low-income areas are most likely to be food deserts. While food deserts may be viewed as urban areas where it is difficult to buy affordable and fresh foods that are of good quality, it would also be essential in this case to state that even local areas could be food deserts (Zachary et al., 2013). The decision to buy food items in low-income areas depends on cognition of what is necessary and not diet requirements. Therefore, Zachary et al. 2013), proposes that when individuals from low-income areas are buying food, they are most likely to buy their staple food.

Most of the staple foods in many localities do not contain all the required nutrients. Tuffrey and Hall (2016), argued that such staple foods are rather made of a great amount of some nutrients and very low of others or none at all. For instance, localities that view meat as their staple food may have an enormous amount of proteins and very low intake of other nutrients such as carbohydrates and fiber. Therefore, low-income environments threaten malnutrition due to the stressful nature of the choices that the buyers have made over time which fails to include essential nutrients in their diet.

It does not mean that people in low-income economies do not need healthy diets. Indeed, many people express an understanding of healthy feeding. However, the mechanisms in place may not be sufficient for people to access healthy eating (Msambichaka et al., 2018). According to Yousafzai, Rasheed, and Bhutta (2013), in the commercialized food industry, healthy feeding seems to depend on the buying capacity. Some of the most available sources of food offer common nutrients such as proteins and carbohydrates. Therefore, according to Ashorn et al. (2018), accessing rich sources of vitamins and minerals such as vegetables and fruits is always hard in such cases.

Conclusion

The lack of adequate feeding in low-income environments has been seen in different perspectives. It causes some health and even risks maternal health where newborns showcase undernutrition, suffer infections, and inflammations. Surveillance of nutrition in low-income countries also shows general poor population health where malnutrition plays a vital role. Low-income areas, therefore, need increased nutrition intervention subsidies for the provision of nutrients that are not easily accessible, and constant talks with food providers. Therefore, these approaches would help government acknowledge it is their role to play in population health by helping people work towards making all nutrients available which can be accomplished by offering lower prices of food and prioritizing promotions of the lowly consumed nutrients.

References

Ashorn, P., Hallamaa, L., Allen, L. H., Ashorn, U., Chandrasiri, U., Deitchler, M., ... & Klein, N. (2018). Cocausation of reduced newborn size by maternal undernutrition, infections, and inflammation. Maternal & child nutrition, 14(3), e12585.

Msambichaka, B., Eze, I. C., Abdul, R., Abdulla, S., Klatser, P., Tanner, M., ... & Probst-Hensch, N. (2018). Insufficient fruit and vegetable intake in a low-and middle-income setting: a population-based survey in semi-urban Tanzania. Nutrients, 10(2), 222.

Tuffrey, V., & Hall, A. (2016). Methods of nutrition surveillance in low-income countries. Emerging themes in epidemiology, 13(1), 4.

Yousafzai, A. K., Rasheed, M. A., & Bhutta, Z. A. (2013). Annual research review: improved nutrition-a pathway to resilience. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 54(4), 367-377.

Zachary, D. A., Palmer, A. M., Beckham, S. W., & Surkan, P. J. (2013). A framework for understanding grocery purchasing in a low-income urban environment. Qualitative health research, 23(5), 665-678.