Research Paper on Malnutrition: Devastating Effects from Birth to Adulthood

Introduction

Malnutrition affects human beings at all stages: birth to adulthood, and has devastating effects if not taken care of. At birth, children exhibit low weight and high mortality rates, which are carried forward to childhood and displayed as stunted growth and impaired immunity. In adolescents, malnutrition is also characterized by stunted growth and lower ability to grasp concepts. In adulthood, men and women have a lowered immunity, with pregnant mothers being more likely to bear unhealthy children, as their ability to protect the fetus from illness and deficiencies is low.

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Food Shortage

Famine

Although developed countries produce enough food and even have a surplus, developing countries are still struggling to feed their populations. Food shortage is a significant cause of malnutrition. The most common cause of food shortage is famine, which occurs due to natural calamities such as drought or failure in agricultural systems such as irrigation. Food shortage due to famine is severe since it affects large areas and causes massive deaths.

Overpopulation

When an area produces less food than that which can feed its population, food shortage is guaranteed. An overpopulated re has more people than it can comfortably support. Developing countries also have this problem, so they are still entangled in poverty.

Culture

In some cultures, gender determines access to food. The female gender is considered less important in some cultures, so they have limited access to food, which makes them more vulnerable to malnutrition. Culture also determines what is acceptable or unacceptable, which may block some essential nutrients from the community's diet.

Economics

Individuals can only eat what they can afford: either by buying or having the equipment and strategy to grow it. Poverty is a significant cause of food shortage, with a quarter of the world population surviving on less than a dollar per day. Limited resources limit the variety of foods that people have.

Environment

The ability of crops and animals to survive in a certain are determined what the people living there can rear. Areas that cannot support agriculture due to extreme weather or harsh climates lower food production.

Poor Diet

Protein-Energy Malnutrition

The deficiency mostly affects children under the age of five, as they are fast-growing. However, protein deficiency is dominant, as it is in individuals recovering from wounds since proteins are body-building. High levels of starch with protein deficiency are the ultimate cause for kwashiorkor, a common childhood deficiency.

Iron Deficiency

Anemia affects 13% of women, with the prevalence being higher in developing countries. It also affects 92% of pregnant women, still having a bias in developing countries. Intestinal worms that suck blood and inadequate iron intake are the most prevalent causes of anemia.

Iodine Deficiency

Iodine is contained the cheapest food spice: table salt, but 16 million people globally experience iodine deficiency in the lifetime. A sufficient intake of iodine is, therefore, essential to prevent goiter.

Vitamin A Deficiency

The deficiency is common in children and causes blindness, stunted growth, and reduced immunity. It is prevalent in developing countries, despite plant sources being significant sources of the vitamin. Its deficiency is accelerated by frequent infections such as those of the gut and measles.

Solutions to Food Shortage

The World Food Summit

The summit started in the 1960s to strategize on how people in all parts of the world can access safe and healthy food. However, the summit has not been entirely successful due to differing opinions on what is more sustainable.

Long Term Solutions

While some stakeholders consider food shortage a result of overconsumption, others find it a problem of underproduction. Those who consider it overconsumption propose control of the human population, while the rest propose sustainable agriculture by utilizing technology to produce more food and redistributing food equally to all parts of the globe.

Dealing with poverty is also essential, as financial ability determines what a population feeds on. Eliminating poverty increases their access to a wider variety of foods.

Education also equips the community with better techniques on agriculture and the incorporation of technology, which increases food production.

Creating awareness on the environment and what foods best grow in the specific region is also essential to ensure populations get the maximum from the localities, which can be exchanged for a wider variety of nutrients.

Nutrification is the adding of specific nutrients into a commonly consumed food to ensure the locals consume the nutrient in their regular meals instead of introducing new food. The technique is particularly important in cases where culture finds some foods with essential nutrients unacceptable. Supplementation could also serve the same purpose.

Short Term Solutions: Responding to Emergencies

Having food ready to respond to food shortage caused by natural calamities such as famine or floods will provide an immediate solution and prevent loss of lives before a permanent solution is found. Medication should also be made available during such emergencies to take care of deficiencies.

Food Security

Economic insecurity and limited access to food- Living below the poverty line decreases the variety of food available for consumption

Vulnerable populations such as the homeless, illegal immigrants, women, and infants are at a higher risk of lacking food despite the abundance of food in the US since they do not have access to it.

Native Americans and Alaska Natives also have limited access to food as they live in remote areas, which increases their chances of experiencing food shortage. So is the case for migrant and seasonal farmworkers.