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Institute for International Medicine
INMED International Public Health Self-Paced Course |
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Module Four: Effective Health Promotion
Challenge Of Malnutrition
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UNICEF: Fighting Malnutrition In Benin |
By definition, malnutrition refers to the entire spectrum of nutritional disorders, including deficiency syndromes and overnutrition or obesity. The latter is a growing concern in some low-resource settings. However, in common usage, malnutrition usually refers to deficiencies of protein, energy or micronutrients. At times, the term undernutrition is also used in this context.
The physical and social consequences of nutritional deficiencies in low-resource nations are great. Nutritional deficiencies negatively impact child growth, community development and economic progress.4 Infants, young children, women of reproductive age and the elderly in such nations are at greatest risk for malnutrition.5
Roughly 43 nations have significant populations of malnourished persons. Of these, 23 are located in sub-Saharan Africa. The health crisis surrounding malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa is often exacerbated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic and by persisting civil unrest. The remainder of the malnourished nations are located in southern Asia. The close association between malnutrition and poverty is illustrated by the finding that these 43 countries also are among those countries with the lowest calculated values for the Human Development Index (HDI).6