Child Development and Public Health

The public health topic that I find to be of interest and very meaningful is nutrition/malnutrition. This topic has meaning to me because I am very much concerned about the problem of nutrition/malnutrition. In addition there are many deaths as a result and many of these are young children. The fact that many of these deaths are young children disturbs me a great deal. Nutrition/Malnutrition continues to be a significant problem all over the world, especially among children. Poverty, natural disasters, political problems, and war all contribute to conditions of nutrition/malnutrition, epidemics of malnutrition and starvation, and not just in developing countries. Individuals are malnourished, or suffer from under-nutrition if their diet does not provide them with adequate calories and protein for maintenance and growth, or they cannot fully utilize the food they eat due to illness. People are also malnourished, or suffer from over-nutrition if they consume too many calories.

Malnutrition is linked to nearly half of all childhood deaths. Prices for basic food like rice, maize, wheat, oil, sugar and salt are skyrocketing, threatening food security, and forcing millions of the world's poorest children into severe malnourishment and starvation.

In much of the world, children with full bellies are still lacking the nutrients and vitamins they need to grow to their full potential. A malnourished child is less able to fight off illness, less likely to get the most out of schooling, and often becomes physically and mentally stunted. Malnutrition keeps children trapped in the cycle of poverty. Over the past 20 years alone, the number of stunted children under the age of five in the world has fallen by 88 million from 40 to 26 percent, or a one-third reduction. However a new Lancet article from June 6, 2013 shows that progress is not fast enough, so what is needed now is strong, global commitment and leadership to accelerate efforts.

The Sahel and Horn of Africa regions in West and East Africa are experiencing the worst food crisis. in recent years. About 23 million people in 11 countries in the regions are affected by food insecurity and are facing malnutrition. Survival of millions of children across the Sahel and the Horn of Africa is threatened by a deadly combination of high food prices, armed conflict and crop failure.

It is estimated that as much as seventy-five percent of Haiti’s population lives in poverty. Because of this, much of Haiti is severely malnourished. Many factors can explain such high numbers: poor agricultural conditions, violence, an unpredictable political environment. This combination of unfortunate circumstances makes Haiti the poorest country in the world. It is clear that the rural and urban indigent populations of Haiti suffer malnutrition because of the country’s economic policies. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, about 3.8 million. Haitians don’t get enough to eat. In addition, about twenty-three percent of all children under the age of five suffer from chronic malnutrition, putting Haiti’s future in jeopardy.

In Haiti, 22 percent of children aged 6 to 59 months experience chronic malnutrition, with the highest rates in the poorest areas. One way UNICEF is tackling this health challenge is through nutritional interventions, like community meetings to inform families on what foods they can plant in their gardens and eat to help balance their diets. An important part of this initiative is the distribution of a multiple micro-nutrient powder. Using this powder can increase children’s chances of survival, especially during the first two years of life. Early childhood malnutrition has a large and important direct impact on cognitive performance that persists into adulthood. But the incidence of the malnutrition needs to be early enough for this effect to take hold.This information will impact my work with children in many ways.

It is important to first improve nutrition. By improving the awareness of nutritious meal choices and establishing long-term habits of healthy eating this will have a positive effect on a child's cognitive and spatial memory thereby increasing a student's ability to process an retain academic information. Since children spend a great deal of time in school and this is where they receive their education then it is important to start there in preventing any form of malnutrition. This will enable them to choose foods that are healthy during childhood and later on in their adult life. Starting early is better especially before the age of two, have the highest gain. Malnutrition tends to be most common and severe during the periods of greatest vulnerability that is, at pregnancy and the first two to three years of life and, if it persists into the second year of life, stunts cognitive development and is difficult to reverse.

 3 month old baby

   

It is my job as an educator to help stop the cycle of malnutrition.

Resources:

Nutrition & Food Security, Retrieved on November 9, 2013 from: http://www.unicefusa.org/work/nutrition/

UNCIEF, Retrieved on November 9, 2013 from: http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/

  

Malnutrition in Haiti: Its Economic Causes and Effects, Retrieved on November 9, 2013 from: http://www.worldfoodprize.org/documents/filelibrary/images/youth_programs/research_papers/2005_papers/CedarRapidsXavierHighSchool_4D735333A8142.pdf

P. Glewwe and E. M. King, “The Impact of Early Childhood Nutritional Status on Cognitive Development: Does the Timing of Malnutrition Matter?” World Bank Economic Review 15(1): 81-113, 2001.

Alderman, J. Hoddinott, and W. Kinsey, “Long Term Consequences of Early Childhood Malnutrition.” Oxford Economic Papers 58: 450-474, 2006.

P. Glewwe and E. M. King, “The Impact of Early Childhood Nutritional Status on Cognitive Development: Does the Timing of Malnutrition Matter?” World Bank Economic Review 15: 81 – 113, 2001.