Strategies For Reducing Malnutrition On Children’ Zero To Five Years
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Strategies For Reducing Malnutrition On Children’ Zero To Five Years
Chapter One: Introduction 1.1 Background of the Study
Malnutrition in children, also known as undernutrition, is ubiquitous around the world and causes both immediate and long-term irreversible unfavourable health effects such as stunted growth, which may be connected to cognitive development impairments, underweight, or wasting.
Malnutrition is estimated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to account for 54% of child mortality worldwide, or approximately 1 million children. Another WHO estimate suggests that childhood underweight accounts for around 35% of all fatalities among children under the age of five worldwide.
The primary causes are unsafe water, inadequate sanitation or hygiene, social and economic factors, illnesses, maternal problems, gender concerns, and overall poverty (Bhutta et al, 2008).
There are three primary methods for identifying malnutrition in children. These include stunting (very low height for age), underweight (extremely low weight for age), and wasting.
These indices of malnutrition are linked, although World Bank research indicated that just 9% of children are stunted, underweight, or wasting. Children with severe acute malnutrition are extremely thin, but they also have swollen hands and feet
which highlight the interior abnormalities to health staff. Children that are severely malnourished are especially vulnerable to illnesses (World Bank, 2008).
Malnutrition in children produces direct anatomical damage to the brain, limiting newborn motor development and exploratory behaviour. Children who are malnourished before the age of two and gain weight quickly later in childhood and adolescence are more likely to have chronic nutrition-related disorders. Studies have identified a clear link between hunger and child mortality (Duggan et al., 2008).
Adequate growth following malnutrition treatment indicates health and recovery. Even after recovering from severe starvation, children are often permanently stunted. Even slight malnutrition doubles the risk of mortality from respiratory and diarrhoeal diseases, as well as malaria.
This danger is significantly higher in severe cases of malnutrition. Undernourished girls grow into short adults who are more prone to bear little children.
Prenatal malnutrition and early life growth patterns can disrupt metabolism and physiological processes, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease for the rest of one’s life.
Children who are malnourished are more likely to be short as adults, have lower educational achievement and economic status, and give birth to smaller infants (Bhutta et al., 2008). Malnutrition is common among children during their rapid development years, and it can have long-term consequences for their health.
In 2008, the World Health Organisation reported that half of all occurrences of malnutrition in children under five were caused by insufficient food consumption, contaminated water, inadequate sanitation, or poor hygiene. This relationship is frequently caused by recurring diarrhoea and intestinal worm infections as a result of poor sanitation.
However, the relative role of diarrhoea to malnutrition and, by extension, stunting is still debated. Malnutrition is most prevalent among the poorest quintile of children in practically every country.
However, disparities in malnutrition between children from poor and wealthier households vary by nation, with studies revealing enormous gaps in Peru and extremely tiny ones in Egypt.
In 2000, low-income countries had substantially higher rates of child malnutrition (36 percent) than middle-income countries (12 percent) or the United States (1 percent).
In 2009, studies in Bangladesh discovered that chronic and severe malnutrition in children is connected with the mother’s literacy, low family income, a larger number of siblings, less access to mass media, less meal supplementation, and unsanitary water and sanitation facilities.
Diarrhoea and other illnesses can promote malnutrition by reducing nutrient absorption, decreasing food intake, increasing metabolic requirements, and direct nutritional loss.
Parasite infections, particularly intestinal worm infections (helminthiasis), can cause malnutrition. Poor sanitation and hygiene are major causes of diarrhoea and intestinal worm infections in children in underdeveloped nations.
Children with chronic conditions, such as HIV, are more likely to be malnourished because their bodies do not absorb nutrients as well. Diseases such as measles are a major cause of malnutrition in children, and immunisations offer a chance to alleviate the load. The nutrition of children aged five and under is heavily influenced by their mothers’ nutrition during pregnancy and lactation.
Infants born to young moms who are not completely formed have lower birth weights. Maternal nutrition during pregnancy can influence neonatal body size and composition. Iodine shortage in mothers frequently results in brain damage in their offspring, and in some cases, severe physical and mental impairment.
This limits the children’s capacity to reach their full potential (Wagstaff & Naoke, 1999). In 2011, UNICEF claimed that 30% of developing-world households did not use iodised salt, resulting in 41 million infants and neonates with iodine deficiency that may still be averted. Maternal body size is strongly related to the size of newborn infants.
The mother’s short stature and low maternal nutrition storage enhance the risk of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). nonetheless, measurements of a child’s growth give the important information for the presence of malnutrition; nonetheless, weight and height measurements alone can lead to failure to recognise kwashiorkor and an overestimate of the severity of malnutrition in children.
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