Malnutrition In Children And Preventive Measures - Essay Example

? Malnutrition in Children and Preventive Measures SMARTHINKING's E-structor Response Form (Your marked-up essay is below this form HOW THIS WORKS:Your e-structor has written overview comments about your essay in the form below. Your e-structor has also embedded comments [in bold and in brackets] throughout your essay. Thank you for choosing SMARTHINKING's OWL; best wishes with revising your paper! Hi, Marco, and welcome back to Smarthinking! My name's Susan B and I'll be helping you with your essay today. I enjoyed your thorough covering of the subject matter, supported by relevant and correctly cites source material, and I have some suggestions that will help you to strengthen your thesis, polish your References page, and to work on comma usage. I hope you will find my comments helpful as you continue to revise your paper. *Strengths of the essay: You have included a number of shocking supporting statistics. For example: “In the sub-Saharan Africa the number of children who are undernourished (low weight for age) has increased from 90 million in the year 1970 to 225 million in the year 2008. It has been projected that it would increase by another 100 million by 2015 (Teller & Alva, n.d)”. This very powerfully brings to significance of the problem to the reader’s attention. Well done. You now have an excellent draft to continue to refine. Well done. ?Now, let's take a look at it! *Marco 2638165 has requested that you respond to the Main Idea/Thesis: Marco, the thesis appears at the end of the introductory section and should tell the reader what the paper is about. Your thesis seems to be: The topic has become important [because] of the increasing number malnourished children and it has been pointed out that in the first two years intervention should be made so as to prevent malnutrition and its consequences. While this does make your topic clear, it does not indicate the focus or scope of your paper. The thesis contains a topic, a claim, and indicates the essay’s structure—the subject or main point of each paragraph. Here is an example: Forms of psychotherapeutic treatments [topic] differ based on whether they arise from [claim] behavioral, psychoanalytic, or cognitive theories [structure/main points]. Your topic is malnutrition in children. What is your claim? Is it that it has emerged as growing health problem all over the world or that the long term impact is too severe? What are your main points? They seem to be: economic impact, concentrated in developing countries, active intervention by governments, educational intervention through health care services, women’s rights, and nursing care guidelines for treatment. How could you apply this to your paper so that the thesis statement includes your topic, claim, and indicates the structure, Marco? *Marco 2638165 has requested that you respond to the Introduction/Conclusion: I have no concerns about either your introduction or conclusion as both perform their respective functions well. Your introduction prepares the reader for the essay that follows by proving very helpful background information. The conclusion does a most effective job of reinforcing your overall discussion by echoing your overall thesis and summarizing the main points of discussion. Good work!  Use of Resources: Your citations all comply with APA guidelines—well done, Marco. However, your References page needs a little work. Your References page at the end of the essay correctly lists all of the sources used in your paper in alphabetical order by inverted author’s name. However, they should be presented in a hanging indent. You have also correctly list internet sources with unknown authors under the article or entry name and placed titles in italics.Here are examples and models for you to review against: With electronic sources it is only necessary to give the retrieval date for APA if the website is likely to be updated frequently. While the order may vary, an example of a listing for an electronic source is: Justice, C. (2004, July 28). The struggle against obesity. Retrieved from http://healthandfitness.com A listing for a print resource has the following format: Author, A. A. (Year of publication).Title of work. Location: Publisher. A listing for a print resource with editors has the following format: Author’s surname, initial.(Year of publication).Title Editor’s initials and surname, (Ed.). Location: Publisher’s details. A listing for a periodicalhas the following format: Author’s surname, initials.(Year of publication).Title of article.Title of periodical, volume number (issue number). Use these guidelines to review your References page, Marco. For more information, you can either visit http://www.apastyle.org or the following link to the Student Handbook: http://smarthinking.com/static/Document_Library/docs/writeman/3_14_02.cfm Grammar & Mechanics: Marco, you sometimes seem to be unsure when to use commas. Commas are important because they can separate a sentence into manageable and meaningful parts. Without necessary commas, a sentence can lose its meaning and become hard to navigate. Here’s an example from your essay: As the African economy is characterized by poor governance, lack of infrastructure and low investment in agriculture there is food insecurity and this in turn contributes to malnutrition. We use commas: 1 Between main clauses that are joined with a coordinate conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). For example: John frowned [clause 1], and he rubbed his chin [clause 2] 2 After an introductory element (extra information before the main clause). For example: In the morning [introductory element], I went jogging [main clause] 3 After every item in a list. For example: I like reading, watching movies, and taking photographs. 4 We place commas around nonessential information. For example: My brother, who is older than I am, looks like my father. Where should you place commas in order to help your reader? How about, “As the African economy is characterized by poor governance, lack of infrastructure, and low investment in agriculture, there is food insecurity and this in turn contributes to malnutrition”. Can you see the significant difference that commas make? Please these comma rules in mind as you revise your essay. If you want more help the relevant sections of the Smarthinking Handbooks are very useful. The links are provided at the end of the ERF. Summary of Next Steps: I really enjoyed working on your draft, Marco. Here is a summary of my suggestions to strengthen and polish it further: Review your thesis as discussed Review your References page Keep comma rules in mind Proofread carefully. Thank you for using Smarthinking!Please feel free to submit any future drafts or read through one of our Writer's Handbooks (linked below) for tips. Good luck with your revision! We hope to see you back at Smarthinking soon. Susan B Find additional resources in SMARTHINKING's online library: You can find more information about writing, grammar, and usage in SMARTHINKING's student handbooks. You can visit the SMARTHINKING Writer's Handbook or the SMARTHINKING ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) Writer's Handbook. ************************************************************************* Please look for more comments in your essay below. Thank you for visiting SMARTHINKING. We encourage you to submit future essays. ************************************************************************* Background Malnutrition has emerged as growing health problem all over the world but it is specially concentrated in developing economies like India, Africa, etc. In order to have a healthy life it is essential to have proper intakes of vitamins, minerals, and other important nutrients for the proper maintenance of tissues and organs of the body. If the body is not provided with the above then the condition of malnutrition develops. Malnutrition is considered to be a “silent and invisible emergency” which is having a serious impact on children (Bellamy, 1998).[? You need to include citations here, Marco, to acknowledge your source.?] In developing countries there are around 12 million deaths each year due to malnutrition. The major causes for this situation include“lack of food, common and preventable infections, inadequate care, and unsafe water.” Poverty can also be considered as a cause as well as a consequence of this. This topic has become very important because the long term impact of child malnutrition is too severe. It “blunts intellects and saps the productivity and potential of entire societies” (Bellamy, 1998). The topic has become important because of the increasing number malnourished children and it has been pointed out that in the first two years intervention should be made so as to prevent malnutrition and its consequences. This paper seeks to examine the growing problem of malnutrition among children and the initiatives taken to mitigate its impact. [Reading one’s essay aloud can help to spot problems such as omitted words.] Relevance in promoting global health The maintenance of proper and health and establishment of an environment conducive for its maintenance is very vital for any economy across the world. If the population is healthy then there would be the generation of a proper workforce which in turn will contribute to the economic growth of the economy. Thus policies are made by the government to ensure a healthy environment. ‘Healthy People 2020” was launched in 2010 by the Department of Health and Human Services which had almost 1200 objectives focusing on different areas of public health. The principle goal of this program was to ensure high quality life, achievement of health equity, elimination of disparities, promotion of good health and healthy behaviors (CDC, n.d). Keeping the goal of Healthy People 2020 in mind it is essential to seriously look into the matter. Child malnutrition has been growing at an alarming rate in the developing countries. Children represent future generation and hence provision of proper health facilities to curb malnutrition is an essential requirement. If proper attention is not given to this issue then it would hamper the growth of the economy. In the sub- Saharan Africa the number of children who are undernourished (low weight for age) has increased from 90 million in the year 1970 to 225 million in the year 2008. It has been projected that it would increase by another 100 million by 2015 (Teller & Alva, n.d). The situation of malnourishment is equally grim for India where the state of Madhya Pradesh accounts for the highest rate of malnutrition. The seriousness of malnourishment can be understood from the extent of its long term consequences. It acts as an obstacle for motor, sensor, and emotional development. Children who are malnourished are more prone to poor performance in school and when they grow up they are more vulnerable to disease and death at an early time. Inadequate care towards women during pregnancy leads to the birth of low weight babies who are more susceptible to malnutrition (Nutrition, n.d). Thus an overview of the impact of malnutrition and its prevalence in different countries makes this a very relevant issue in the sphere of global health. Scope of the problem The problem of child malnutrition like a parasite has affected almost every part of the world but it is mostly concentrated in the developing countries. The factors which affect nutrition are political instability, inequality, improper formulation of development policy, and improper implementation of food security and health programs. If these factors are not checked then it will lead to malnutrition. The prevalence of malnutrition is observed in case of those countries where the above factors are not given their due attention. Malnutrition has been prevalent more among the poor populations in developing countries where there have always been shortages of food, lack of access to healthcare, etc. Ethiopia, for example, has a considerable number of malnourished children due to food insecurity. In fact it is considered to be the sixth country in the world which has the highest number of under-five deaths in the world (Belachew&Nekatibeb, 2007, pp.577-578).Sub- Saharan countries like Burkina Faso, Niger, Somalia, and Sudan are expected to have higher incidence of child malnutrition in the future. As the African economy is characterized by poor governance, lack of infrastructure and low investment in agriculture there is food insecurity and this in turn contributes to malnutrition.Data on wasting (low weight for low height) and stunting and underweight was provided by WHO Global Database on Child Growth covering the period from 1980 to 1992. It covered areas like Latin America, Oceania, Africa, and Asia. It was seen prevalence of underweight children was high in case of Asia while it was moderate in case of Latin America. Except for Honduras, Guatemala in Central America and Guyana in South America, most of the other countries of Latin America showed a lower prevalence of underweight children. In case of Africa the results varied. The performance of North Africa represented by Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia was similar with that of Latin America. However there was high prevalence of underweight children in case of West Africa.In case of southern Asia comprising of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka there is a high prevalence of underweight children. This scenario was also observed in case of south eastern Asia (Onis et al. 1993, pp.3-8). Thus one can see that poor population in the developing countries are the worst affected. A research conducted by Ngare and Muttunga showed that the prevalence of stunting, wasting, and underweight were 37%, 6% and 27% in Kenya. The results pointed to the fact that malnutrition was indeed a serious public health matter in Kenya (Ngare&Muttunga, 1999, p.376). Initiatives of the government Malnutrition among the children is growing at a fast pace. It is believed that every year almost 12 million children die due to it especially in developing countries. In fact major reasons for these deaths have been diarrhea, acute respiratory diseases, and lack of proper health care facilities. Under such scenario active intervention of the government is very much essential. In order to curb the problem of malnutrition the traditional approaches were prepared milk supplements and oral rehydration therapy. However the recent discovery by a French company called Nutriset might bring about a big change in the nutritional pattern. It is called Plumpynut. It is a therapeutic food which is made up of peanut paste, vegetable oil, and fortified milk. It also contains essential vitamins and minerals. Apart from being hugely beneficial it is also inexpensive. Thus it is being widely used in Niger, Sudan, and Malawi. Alternatives to breastfeeding are available in developed countries but that is not seen in case of developing countries. Powdered milk is not safe in case of countries like Africa, Asia, and Latin America due to lack of safe drinking water. Milk in many places is expensive and its refrigeration is considered to be a luxury. On the other hand Plumynut is not only affordable but it is free from the hassles of refrigeration and easy to dispose off. It can also be easily prepared. Apart from that it is economically viable made from peanuts which are available in abundance in Africa. The traditional methods had not been very successful in curbing the problem of malnutrition so this product appeared to be a hope to control it (Plumpynut- a tool for malnutrition, 2007). [I suggest you begin a new paragraph here as you begin to discuss a new point, Marco.?] The success of any program or product depends on its acceptance by the public. Often it has been found that lack of proper education regarding nutrition has aggravated the problem of malnutrition among children. A study carried on by Penny et al tried to find the impact of educational intervention through health care services in order to improve nutrition in young children. The study was conducted in Peru and it was found that educational intervention did bring about a change (Penny, et al, 2005).[Again, please keep in mind that each main is discussed in a separate paragraph. At this point you move to an examination of mothers and women’s rights.?] Apart from that often the malnutrition in the child exists because the mother never had access to proper nutrition. The women in developing countries has the responsibility of doing all household work and due to the socio- economic set up never gets the support of their family. As a result they themselves are not strong when they are pregnant. The obvious result is malnourished children and their subsequent deaths. Thus another requirement for curbing child malnutrition is the proper implementation of women’s rights (The State of the World’s Children 1998). Community nursing interventions When a person is under treatment the most essential requirement at that particular point of time is care. In case of malnutrition in children it has been pointed out that apart from under nutrition there are other things which leads to death. In case of hospitalization the children are under the care of the nurses and it is important that proper care is given to the patients. WHO has laid down certain guidelines for the treatment and care of the child admitted under severe malnutrition. It is essential for the nurse to test the blood sugar level and the temperature of the child. The children who are suffering from malnutrition have high content of sodium and less content of potassium and magnesium. Thus it is advised to feed the child with modified ORS solution as it contains potassium and other electrolytes. As sodium content is high so food should be prepared without salt and carrots and bananas should be included as they are rich in potassium. As malnutrition often leads to diarrhea and dehydration, nurses should give coconut water. [Is the “so” necessary? Read your sentence with a without it and decide.] In case of malnourished children one might not find the usual signs of infections so nurses are advised to give antibiotics. If the child is not immunized then the nurses are advised to measles vaccine to prevent any other severe disease. Since deficiencies of vitamins and minerals are seen in children with acute malnutrition so “multiviatamin supplement” should be given to correct the deficiencies. Iron should be given by the nurses only when the child has started gaining weight. Immediate feeding of the child is very essential. The child should be given around 100 calories per kilogram according to the weight of the child. At the time of admission if the child is breast fed then that should be continued. Nurses should also be aware of the fact that if the child is very weak to eat then the nurse should feed him by spoon, dropper, or syringe without a needle. The children suffering from malnutrition will take time to recover. During the time of delays apart from medicines and food the other most important thing is provision of tender and loving care (Care for the child in hospital, n.d, pp.94-96). Concluding remarks Economies all around the world are entering the phase of globalization and liberalization. Treaties are signed between countries so as extend trade for the benefit of the economy. Amidst all these commercial activities lies the bare truth of malnutrition among children, a phenomenon observed in many developing countries. In case of countries like India there has been considerable amount of growth achieved since independence but the country is still struggling in its efforts to curb malnutrition. This situation is also true for African economies and few South American economies. In case of the economic turmoil in developed countries like USA and UK, one saw the financial debacle but it did not lead to things like malnutrition because of their superior infrastructure. In case of developing countries apart from relief features it is also essential to spread the awareness regarding nutrition. In most developing countries lack of education and rights for women has developed a deep ignorance. Therefore, government policies are required to break through the ignorance so that health of the mother and the child is both ensured. As the facts reveal the gravity of the situation, it becomes more important to take the necessary initiatives and ensure its implementation. [Do you mean “the”?] References Bellany, C. (1998). The State of the World’s Children 1998, UNICEF, retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/sowc98/ Belachew, T &Nekatibeb, H (2007). Assessment of outpatient therapeutic programme for severe acute malnutrition in three regions of Ethiopia, East African Medical Journal, 84(12), 577-588 Care for the child in hospital. (n.d), WHO, retrieved from: http://www.wpro.who.int/internet/files/pub/85/87-108.pdf Ngare, D K &Muttunga, J N. (1999) Prevalence of malnutrition in Kenya.East African Medical Journal, 76(7), 376-380. Onis, (1993) The worldwide magnitude of protein-energy malnutrition: an overview from the WHO Global Database on Child Growth, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 71(6), 703-712 http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/en/childgrowth_database_overview.pdf Plumpynut- a tool for malnutrition. (2007). GLOBALENVISION, retrieved from: http://www.globalenvision.org/library/9/1825 Penny, ME. et al (2005). Effectiveness of an educational intervention delivered through the health services to improve nutrition in young children: a cluster-randomized controlled trial. US National Library of Medicine 365(9474), 1863-1872. Teller, C.H. & Alva, S. (2008), Reducing Child Malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa: Surveys Find Mixed Progress, PRB, retrieved from: https://www.prb.org/Articles/2008/stuntingssa.aspx UNICEF. (n.d) Nutrition, UNICEF, retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/india/children_2356.htm Read More