Impact of Malnutrition on Children in Developing Countries - Literature review Example

Impact of Malnutrition on Children in Developing Countries Student name: Unit name: Course name Submission date: Abstract Malnutrition is a major health challenge in the developing countries. In most of the developing countries malnutrition has been identified as major risk factor for causal of different illnesses and mortality among pregnant women and children. The main manifestation of the malnutrition is normally through protein energy malnutrition and micronutrient malnutrition. Marasmus and kwashiorkor are the pointers to the energy protein malnutrition while the micronutrient is caused by deficiencies in zinc, iron, iodine and vitamins deficiencies. This paper discusses the impact of malnutrition on children in developing countries. Key word: malnutrition Introduction Malnutrition occurs when the body does not receive adequate nutrients. The general causes of malnutrition include diet imbalances or in adequacies, physiological problems that affect digestion and absorption and some medical conditions. The children under the five years in the Sub-Sahara Africa are greatly impacted by malnutrition (Khor and Sherif, 2007). Malnutrition refers to both under nutrition and obesity. The main focus of this discussion is the under nutrition. Despite of the millennium goals that called for eradication of malnutrition by 2015, there are major shortcomings recorded in the developing countries mainly in Southern Asia and Sub-Sahara Africa (Harvey, 2009). In Africa, the trend of hungry people has been on the increase. In 1990, 170.4 million people were hungry, in 2002 this number increased to 204 million. Recent studies even though not quantified have noted that the trend is still on the rise (Howson and Harrison, 2007). The increase has been attributed to many factors ranging from poverty, ignorance, climate change and the unwillingness of the political leadership to enact policies to curb the malnutrition. Poverty and Food insecurity According to Chan et al (2008) 1.4 billion people around the globe are poor. Poverty is one of the causes of malnutrition as the affected populations lack resources to purchase food. The lack of food leads to a vicious cycle as these people cannot work thus they cannot afford quality food and health care. The failure to work means that that there is no production either agriculturally or in other sectors of economy. This leaves the people and the affected countries with no food reserves for the citizens and hence the food insecurity which exemplifies the vicious cycle. Malnutrition occurs due to lack of availability of food. Poverty is one of the factors that have been found to be a leading cause of malnutrition in the developing world. A study carried out by (Berman & Deolalikar, 2011) in remote parts of India found that the people were opting to buy the cheaper foods most of which did not have the protein as protein is always highly priced compared to other calorie foods. The results showed they opted for the foods that were rich in calories in order to satisfy their hunger. Poverty has dire consequences on the status of nutrition for the children in the developing countries. The study found the children in the poor families were not getting adequate amounts of proteins. The research found that 29% of the children aged three to five years were suffering from marasmus. The food insecurity is normally marked by discrepancies in the distribution of food. This is a common occurrence in the developing countries in the Sub-Sahara Africa (Webb &Slack, 2010). The poverty coupled with food insecurity results to the households being unable to meet their nutritional requirements and that of their children. In the developing countries poverty has been associated with over dependence on one source of income. For instance, a population may depend on cash crops which are prone to weather changes. Education Education plays a great role in the determination of the nutrition status of children. However, it has been noted that many mothers in the developing countries do not have adequate formal education. The selection of the food from market, the food taken by the child falls under the discretion of the mother or the immediate care giver (Smith &Ndiaye, 2010). In developing countries the access to the education for the girls and women is still a great challenge. The poor education levels drive to the poverty which joins the vicious cycle of disease and poor health. Malnutrition is linked to poverty and the quality of the food intake. Researches have also shown a positive correlation between education and poverty. There is an established connection between the education of women and child nutrition. Smith et al (2009) conducted a study by use of both the health survey data and demographic information on 117, 242 children who were under the age of three years. The study was in developing countries in South Asia, sub-Sahara Africa and Latin America. The study was comparing the education status of the mother and the nutritional status of the child. The findings were that the women with high education status their children were not malnourished. Poor sanitation was found to relate to the mothers with low education. The consequences of the poor sanitation were found to link to diarrhea which is a major contributor to malnutrition in the developing countries. Climate change Global warming has resulted to climatic changes not only in the developing countries but also in the developed nations. However, the developing countries are worse hit by the climatic changes as they depend on rainfall for the agricultural practices which are the major source of food production (Smith and Haddad, 2012). It has been noted that increasingly changes in the rainfall pattern affect the supply of fresh water which affects the overall situation of the provision of safe water. This could result to diarrhea. The extremity of water scarcity in the Sub-Sahara Africa has been characterized by drought and famine every year. TheInternational Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) (2009) carried a comprehensive study on climatic changes. The changes were found to weigh heavily on Africa where food production is depended on the rainfall patterns. Government policy Tackling malnutrition requires the effort of the government i.e. to enact policies that promote food security. Most political leaderships in the developing countries have underestimated and ignored and have not invested on courses that are aimed at reducing malnutrition. As a result the developing countries still experience high malnutrition rates among their citizens with the women and children being affected most (Deolalikar & Berman, 2011). The evident scenario in the governments has been the misappropriation of state funds and corruption which has led to political differences and civil strives. The resulting impact has been no time for the agricultural activities and an increase in poverty rates. The budgetary allocations in the health sector are not adequate and the strategies to combat diarrhea and other related diseases that affect children are limited. GDP Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is an important indicator of the living standards in a country. There are wide disparities in the GDP around the globe. In the developed countries the average per capita income surpasses the average per capita in the developing economies by a factor greater than 10. This implies that the developing countries have low GDP compared to the developed countries. As noted low GDP dictates the living standards and relates directly to poverty levels. However some of the developing countries are experiencing growth that is higher than in the developed countries (Garret and Ruel, 2009). The growth has been realized in the urban area and the rural communities have not felt the effect of the development, they remain impoverished and consequently are not getting the required dietary amounts. Subbarao and Raney (2011) carried a research to assess the role of nutrition outcome in the developing economies. The study was a quantitative and data was analyzed from cross-sectional country level. The data collection was from secondary sources and government publications. This was followed by a case study of governance and the nutrition strategies and policies in the country. The study carried an in-depth analysis of the governance indices and nutrition accountability. The findings showed that there was a strong correlation between the nutritional outcomes and the governance. Countries that had poor scores in the governance had also poor under-nutrition outcomes. The findings of the research affirmed the role of politics and governance in malnutrition. Impacts of malnutrition on children Malnutrition has both the physical and physiological effects on the children. A research was conducted by Pelletier and Frongillo (2010) to determine the impacts of malnutrition on children. This study collected data in the Caribbean countries. The research targeted children who were being brought in hospital and malnutrition attributed to the cause of illness. By analyzing the anthropometric measures and comparing them to the age, the impacts of malnutrition were found to be stunted growth and low weight gain among the children. Other effects which were reported by caretakers and the mothers included fatigue, dizziness, reoccurrence of infections. The diseases that were directly linked to the malnutrition related to protein energy malnutrition, kwashiorkor and marasmus being reported in the children. Other diseases werediarrhea, malaria. These diseases were attributed to the low immunity resulting due to the under nutrition. Malnutrition was also found to cause mortality. Pelletier and Frongillo (2008) conducted a study that examined the causes of mortality in rural areas of Malawi in Africa. The research relied on the records from the health dispensaries found in selected areas of the study and community based studies. The leading causes of death were malaria, diarrhea and lower respiratory infections. The analysis of the data collected pointed to the malnutrition being linked to the diarrhea cases. The risk of the mortality was however found to vary depending on the type of diarrhea. The community based studies in Malawi reported increased risk of mortality from diarrhea in the children who had low weight for their age.The malnutrition link to the rise in mortality was also found in some health dispensaries. There were deaths from isolated diarrhea cases such as the dysentery and non-bloody diarrhea. Some of the cases could not be linked directly to malnutrition but to sanitation. In the developing countries malnutrition has been found to be directly responsible for over 300, 000 deaths each year in the children aged under five. The deaths result from the adverse effects of malnutrition which relate to the physical and the general growth and development of the children. Martorell (2011) conducted a research to determine the effect of malnutrition on the cognitive development of children in their pre-primary classes. This was a cohort study that followed the children from the age of one year to the time they were in their first years in the pre-primary teachings. The children identified were subjected to IQ tests. The scores varied in the children and there was positive correlation between the low scores and the children whose nutrition statuses were low. This research reveals that malnutrition does not only affect the physical body but also the brains of the affected children. The research concluded that diet given to the children during the first years of development affects the cognitive and memory of the children. Conclusion Malnutrition in developing countries is a major challenge that affects children under the age of five. There are many causal factors for malnutrition in the developing countries; however, there are several progresses that have been made to alleviate malnutrition. Despite of the developments that have been experienced in the world; children still continue to die due to under nutrition a common occurrence in the developing countries. The various researches carried have shown that the different types of malnutrition have negative consequences on the physical, social and cognitive development of children. Improving the nutrition status for the children in developing countries is crucial for health and development. To achieve desirable nutrition status in the developing countries, enabling socioeconomic, political and education need to be implemented in the affected countries. Synthesis matrix Topic: Malnutrition in developing countries Source #1 Source #2 Source #3 Source #4 Main idea A (Malnutrition in children under five in developing countries) Khor and Sherif, 2007 Harvey, 2009 Howson and Harrison, 2007 Chan et al 2008 Main idea B (malnutrition trends in the developing countries) Berman and Deolalikar, 2011 Webb &Slack, 2010) - Topic: Causes of malnutrition Source#1 Chan et al, 2008 Source#2 Berman & Deolalikar, 2011 Source#3 Webb &Slack, 2010 Source#4 Gholizadeh, and Davidson, 2010 Poverty and food insecurity -Lack of food leads to a vicious cycle - no production either agriculturally or in other sectors of economy - -poverty leading cause of malnutrition in developing countries - discrepancies in the distribution of food - households being unable to meet their nutritional requirements and that of their children - children in the poor families were not getting adequate amounts of proteins Lack of education Smith &Ndiaye, 2010 Smith et al, 2009 -Education plays a great role in the determination of the nutrition status of children - food taken by the child falls under the discretion of the mother - the access to the education for the girls and women is still a great challenge - Women with high education status their children were not malnourished - Poor sanitation found to relate to the mothers with low education - Poor sanitation was found to relate to the mothers with low education Climatic changes Smith and Haddad, 2012 IFPRI 2009 - Global warming has resulted to climatic changes - changes in the rainfall pattern affect the supply of fresh water -extremity of water scarcity in the Sub-Sahara Africa has been characterized by drought and famine - Climatic changes weigh heavily on Africa where food production is depended on the rainfall patterns. Political leadership Deolalikar & Berman, 2011 Khor and Sherif, 2007 -political leaderships in the developing countries have underestimated and ignored malnutrition -budgetary allocations in the health sector are not adequate GDP Garret and Ruel, 2009 Subbarao and Raney (2011) - Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is an important indicator of the living standards - In the developed countries the average per capita income surpasses the average per capita in the developing economies - poor governance relates to under-nutrition outcomes Topic: Impact of malnutrition on children in developing countries Pelletier and Frongillo (2010) Pelletier and Frongillo (2008) Martorell (2011) Diseases (marasmus& kwashiorkor) Diseases that are directly linked to the malnutrition related to protein energy malnutrition Remote of areas of Malawi found t -Stunted growth Mortality Malnutrition link to the rise in mortality was also found in some health dispensaries in Malawi Cognitive development Diet given to the children during the first years of development affects the memory of the children References Behrman, J. R., and Deolalikar, M. Health and nutrition. In Handbook of Development Economics, 3 (1), 2011, pp. 129-134. Chen, L.C. Chowdhury, A. and Huffman, S. L. Anthropometric assessment of energy–protein malnutrition and subsequent risk of mortality among preschool aged children. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 33 (2), 2008, pp.1836–1845. Garrett, J.L. and RUEL, M. Stunted child-overweight mother pairs: prevalence and association with economic development and urbanization. Food Nutrition Bulletin. 26 (1), 2009. pp. 209–221. Gholizadeh, L. and Davidson, P. More similarities than differences: an international comparison of child mortality and risk factors in women. Health Care Women Int. 29 (2), 2010, pp. 3–22. Harvey, P. Improving women’s nutrition: a requirement for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. 2009. http://www.a2zproject.org/docs/HRHS_Harvey.pdfp. Howson, C. and Harrison, D. In her life time: Female morbidity and mortality in Sub- Saharan Africa. Washington, D.C.: Board on International Health, Institute of Medicine, 2007. IFPRI. Climatic changes: Effects on agricultural production in developing countries. The International Food Policy Research Institute Khor, G.L. and Sharif, Z. Dual forms of malnutrition in the same households in Malawi—a case study among Malawi rural households. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 13 (1), 2007, pp.427–438. Martorell, R. Under nutrition during pregnancy and early child hood: Consequences for cognitive and behavioral development. In Early child development: Investing in our children’s future. New York: Elsevier Science, 2011, pp. 13-17. Pelletier, D. L. andFrongillo, E.A. Changes in childsurvival are strongly associated with changes in malnutrition in developing countries. Journal of Nutrition. 133 (1),2008, pp. 107–119. Pelletier, D. and Frongillo, H. the effects of malnutritionon child mortality in developing countries. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 73(4), 2010, pp. 443–448. Smith, L. and Ndiaye, U. The importance of women’s status for child nutrition in developing countries. Washington. IFPRI Research Report No.131. (2010) Smith, L. C., and Haddad. L. Overcoming child malnutrition in developing countries: Past achievements and future choices. 2020 Vision Food, Agriculture,and the Environment Discussion Paper 30. Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute, 2012, pp. 119-239. Subbarao, K., and Raney, L. Malnutrition in developing countries: A crossnationalstudy. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 2011, pp, 97-106. Webb, P. and Slack, A. Trouble down on the farm: What is the role of agriculture in meeting “food needs” in the next 20 years? Washington, D.C.: Routledge, 2010, 24-35. Read More

Education Education plays a great role in the determination of the nutrition status of children. However, it has been noted that many mothers in the developing countries do not have adequate formal education. The selection of the food from market, the food taken by the child falls under the discretion of the mother or the immediate care giver (Smith &Ndiaye, 2010). In developing countries the access to the education for the girls and women is still a great challenge. The poor education levels drive to the poverty which joins the vicious cycle of disease and poor health.

Malnutrition is linked to poverty and the quality of the food intake. Researches have also shown a positive correlation between education and poverty. There is an established connection between the education of women and child nutrition. Smith et al (2009) conducted a study by use of both the health survey data and demographic information on 117, 242 children who were under the age of three years. The study was in developing countries in South Asia, sub-Sahara Africa and Latin America. The study was comparing the education status of the mother and the nutritional status of the child.

The findings were that the women with high education status their children were not malnourished. Poor sanitation was found to relate to the mothers with low education. The consequences of the poor sanitation were found to link to diarrhea which is a major contributor to malnutrition in the developing countries. Climate change Global warming has resulted to climatic changes not only in the developing countries but also in the developed nations. However, the developing countries are worse hit by the climatic changes as they depend on rainfall for the agricultural practices which are the major source of food production (Smith and Haddad, 2012).

It has been noted that increasingly changes in the rainfall pattern affect the supply of fresh water which affects the overall situation of the provision of safe water. This could result to diarrhea. The extremity of water scarcity in the Sub-Sahara Africa has been characterized by drought and famine every year. TheInternational Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) (2009) carried a comprehensive study on climatic changes. The changes were found to weigh heavily on Africa where food production is depended on the rainfall patterns.

Government policy Tackling malnutrition requires the effort of the government i.e. to enact policies that promote food security. Most political leaderships in the developing countries have underestimated and ignored and have not invested on courses that are aimed at reducing malnutrition. As a result the developing countries still experience high malnutrition rates among their citizens with the women and children being affected most (Deolalikar & Berman, 2011). The evident scenario in the governments has been the misappropriation of state funds and corruption which has led to political differences and civil strives.

The resulting impact has been no time for the agricultural activities and an increase in poverty rates. The budgetary allocations in the health sector are not adequate and the strategies to combat diarrhea and other related diseases that affect children are limited. GDP Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is an important indicator of the living standards in a country. There are wide disparities in the GDP around the globe. In the developed countries the average per capita income surpasses the average per capita in the developing economies by a factor greater than 10.

This implies that the developing countries have low GDP compared to the developed countries. As noted low GDP dictates the living standards and relates directly to poverty levels. However some of the developing countries are experiencing growth that is higher than in the developed countries (Garret and Ruel, 2009). The growth has been realized in the urban area and the rural communities have not felt the effect of the development, they remain impoverished and consequently are not getting the required dietary amounts.

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