Nutrition Overview

Child Malnutrition

Stunting is the result of chronic or recurrent undernutrition in-utero and early childhood. Children suffering from stunting may never reach their full possible height nor their full cognitive potential. Stunted children not only earn less as adults as a result of less schooling and learning difficulties when in school, but they are also more likely to be at risk of overweight and obesity than children of normal height.

Wasting is a life-threatening condition attributable to poor nutrient intake and/or disease. Characterized by a rapid deterioration in nutritional status over a short period of time, children suffering from wasting have weakened immunity, increasing their risk of death due to greater frequency and severity of common infection, particularly when severe.

Nearly half of all deaths in children under 5 are attributable to undernutrition but the face of malnutrition, in all its forms, is rapidly changing, with childhood overweight an escalating epidemic of global proportions. Overweight is the result of a growing number of children living in obesogenic environments with greater availability of processed foods and a more sedentary lifestyle.

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Infant and young child feeding

What, when and how children are fed, particularly in the first two years of life, is critical to health, development and survival. The early initiation of breastfeeding – putting newborns to the breast within the first hour of life – is critical to newborn survival and to establishing breastfeeding over the long term. Feeding infants nothing but breastmilk for the first six months of life, exclusive breastfeeding, is the safest and healthiest option for children everywhere and has great potential to save lives. Starting at 6 months of age, children’s nutrient needs are greater than what breastmilk alone can provide. Feeding children solid, semi-solid or soft foods from 6 months of age is key to prevent deficiencies that could result in undernutrition. Diets that meet at least minimum frequency and diversity standards are essential to preventing micronutrient deficiencies, stunting and wasting.

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Micronutrient deficiencies

Micronutrient deficiencies are caused by inadequacies in intake of one or more vitamins and minerals essential for the prevention of malnutrition in all its forms and reducing the prevalence of disease especially during pregnancy and early childhood. Iodine deficiency, for example, the world’s most preventable cause of impaired cognitive functioning, can lead to a variety of health and developmental consequences, including stunting and intellectual disability. For children living in countries where under-five mortality is high and vitamin A deficiency is a public health problem, vitamin A supplementation provides vital protection from blindness and decreases their risk of dying from preventable causes such as measles and diarrhoea.

For more on Iodized Salt consumption, click here, and for Vitamin A supplementation programmes, click here.

Low birthweight

To grow a healthy baby, mothers need good nutrition and rest, adequate antenatal care, and a clean environment. Together, these ingredients for a healthy pregnancy can help to prevent, identify and treat the conditions that cause low birthweight. A newborn’s weight at birth is an important marker of maternal and fetal health and nutrition. Low birthweight newborns have a higher risk of dying in the first 28 days of life. Those who survive are more likely to suffer from stunted growth and lower IQ. The consequences of low birthweight continue into adulthood, increasing the risk of adult-onset chronic conditions such as obesity and diabetes.

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