Malnutrition can be caused by deficiencies, excesses, or imbalances in an individual’s consumption of nutrients. It addresses 3 broad groups of conditions:
- Undernutrition(stunting, wasting and underweight);
- Hidden hunger caused by a lack of essential nutrients;
- Overweight among children under the age of five.
As children begin transitioning to soft or solid foods around the six-month mark, too many are introduced to the wrong kind of diet. As they grow older, their exposure to unhealthy food becomes alarming, driven largely by inappropriate marketing and advertising, the abundance of ultra-processed foods in cities but also in remote areas, and increasing access to fast food and highly sweetened beverages.
There is basically three major
Causes Off Malnutrition
- Basic causes which include poverty, insecurity and lack of access to clean water.
- Underlying Causes This is usually found at the community level as a result of failure of an individual and: household to obtain proper nutrition due to food insecurity, inequitable distribution of wealth and poor housing.
- Immediate Cause include Inadequate intake or poor absorption due to diseases and infections including malarial, acute diarrheal disease, measles, HIV-AIDS and tuberculosis especially if a delay occurs in seeking professional health care.
Consequences of malnutrition in the society
The consequences of malnutrition includes increased risk of infection, death, and delayed cognitive development, leading to low adult incomes, poor economic growth and intergenerational transmission of poverty. Children with malnutrition have reduced ability to fight infection and are more likely to die from common diseases such as malaria, respiratory infections and diarrhoeal diseases
Globally, malnutrition is regarded as the most important risk factor for illness and death and it is associated with 52.5 % of all deaths in young children. According to UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank, out of the 161 million under-fives estimated to be stunted globally in 2013, over a third resided in Africa. In Nigeria, malnutrition remains a major public health and development concern:49 percent of children under five years of age are not growing well (they are either stunted, wasted or overweight). This is partly because 34 percent of children between six months and two years of age are fed food that is not rich and diversified enough to ensure optimal growth. This puts them at risk of poor brain development, weak learning, low immunity, increased infections and, in many cases, death.
Conclusion
High levels of malnutrition have multidimensional consequences for children which will impact resilience and long-term development of households and children, including intergenerational effects. Addressing malnutrition is not only lifesaving but it is also essential to strengthen the resilience of communities and systems, to support long term development goals and improve human capital,