Challenges Faced By Children With Children And Underweight Children Essay

Malnutrition is a problem that is estimated to contribute to more than one third of death among children (WHO, 2014). Under nutrition is a form of malnutrition; it occurs when nutritional reserves are exhausted or nutritional intake is insufficient to satisfy daily needs or increased metabolic demands (Jarvis, 2013, p. 175). Prolonged periods in this state can lead to stunted growth which is associated with lower

Malnutrition is a common health problem and is caused by either an inadequate diet or a problem absorbing nutrients from food. There are many reasons why this might happen, including having reduced mobility, a long-term health condition or a low income. The most common symptom of under-nutrition is unplanned weight loss and other signs could be weak muscles, feeling tired all the time, low mood and an increase in illnesses or infections. The main sign of over-nutrition is being overweight or obese. However, people with under-nutrition can also be overweight if they eat a diet high in energy (calories), but low in other nutrients. Signs of malnutrition in children can include failure to grow at the expected rate and changes in behaviour such as appearing unusually irritable, sluggish or anxious

The food industry has a large impact on individuals and will affect wider communities in the future. The rush of today’s society has pushed food production to become more commercialized with prepackaged/premade based foods. For numerous reasons such as time, work and costs of living, people are wanting meals that are cheap, fast, easy and don’t require much effort. This is due to many obligations and priorities in life that are put above

Nutrition plays an important role in the school environment. Unfortunately, proper nutrition has made its way in to the lunch room, yet has not had the impact that was originally projected. In the video, “Uproar Over School Lunches”, children’s protest to the lunch menu leads to a huge waste concern (ABC News, 2012). The video states that schools have reported a 50% increase in lunch waste (ABC News, 2012). This is huge! It begs to question, if the food is not being consumed, how effective is the nutrisous menu?

“What does malnutrition look like? Most of us think of bloated bellies or skin and bones, but the appearance of a hungry child might surprise you. Internationally hunger often stunts growth. Imagine a 9-year-old who appears to be only 5” (“Feed the Children.” Feed). Almost 1 billion kids worldwide live in poverty and 1 in 4 children around the world suffer from malnutrition that stunts growth (“Feed the Children.” Give). This is a very big problem not only in America but everywhere else, malnutrition is the cause of almost half of child deaths each year around the world (“Feed the Children.” Give). It is close to impossible for a malnourished child to recover from diarrhea or to fight off a small illness because their immune system is just simply too weak (“Feed the Children.”

Patient malnutrition is a very real and serious matter; it can lead to a worsening of the patient's

Malnutrition causes nearly half of all deaths in children under five. (Food Aid Foundation.) Millions of children, gone, into thin air. As if they never existed. Millions of stories, millions of futures, all dead, uncared for. More than 795 million people do not have access to enough food to live a healthy lifestyle. (Food Aid Foundation.) Potential scientists, doctors, and musicians will never be able to achieve their goals because they can’t even obtain food. In Haiti, a small central-american country, one out of every three children lose the ability to grow because of malnourishment (Naq, Oishimaya Sen.). The severity of malnourishment in Haiti causes Haitian children to acquire many terminal diseases and blood deficiencies (Naq, Oishimaya

Nutrition is an important aspect of health within all age groups. A nurse’s initial assessment is very important to a patient’s nutritional status because during an assessment, many findings can determine the nutritional status of an individual. For example, a simple examination of a patient’s overall appearance can determine whether the patient is malnourished, by evidence of decreased functional status, decreased bone mass, impaired muscle function, immune dysfunction, reduced cognitive function,

In honor of their missions to nourish lives this initiative meets urgent needs and identifies long-term, maintainable solutions in the areas of child hunger and nutrition education (ConAgra Foods, 2010/29/07).

As described in a book titled, “Rescuing the Emotional Lives of Overweight Children: What Our Kids Go Through – and How We Can Help,” the author Dr. Sylvia Rimm says overweight middle school students describe themselves to be less confident. They are more than likely to feel lonely and sad compared to those that are average weight (Rimm 35). As she says, “the fact that overweight children so vividly describe themselves in such a negative light shows that their self-esteem is seriously at risk” (Rimm 35). Boys that are overweight were more concerned about being athletic. Those that were overweight were less likely to describe themselves as athletic. While girls were concerned about being beautiful and popular. Girls believed themselves to be

Increased mortality rate (incidence of mortality of malnourished patients at 1 year being nearly 30% in 1 Australian study8)

Plumpy Nut innovation created a revelation in nutritional affairs in one of the most underdeveloped countries in West Africa. From the video, I learned that malnutrition kills five million children a year, that equals one child every six seconds. With such loss of lives from a preventable “disease,” Plumpy Nut moves my heart of compassion to action. Having seen malnutrition first-hand in India, I truly can empathize with the Doctors Without Borders who experience the throws of malnutrition in the villages and communities in which they offer their services. From the video, the narrator concurred that currently only 3% of 20 million are receiving food like Plumpy Nut. Clearly, there is a lack of ready-to-eat nutrient dense enriched food to offer for millions who are suffering from malnutrition. According to the Chief Nutritionist, Dr. Milton in the video, we essentially have a ‘medicine’ to create a spectacular response to save millions of lives.

Malnutrition is defined, by Merriam-Webster, as, “faulty nutrition due to inadequate or unbalance intake of nutrients or their impaired assimilation or utilization.” Malnutrition can affect both those who don’t eat enough and those who eat too much. You can be obese and malnourished due to eating only certain nutrients and not others. The body needs a balance of all nutrients. Prevention of malnutrition starts simply with eating a well balance diet based on the MyPlate recommendations. This helps will help a person eat the correct nutrients in the correct balance to avoid eating too many or too few of any one nutrient. The amount of different types of nutrients depends on the type of lifestyle someone leads. Someone who is more active will need more calories from carbohydrates and protein as compared to a sedentary person. Another way to help prevent malnutrition is education on what nutrients are and why you need them. There is a lot of misinformation out in the world and correct information can help prevent malnutrition. Some misinformation states that certain, necessary nutrients are bad for you, leading to people not eating them. Not eating these nutrients can lead to malnutrition. Malnutrition can lead to wasting of muscles, heart problems, and even death. Treatment depends on the cause of the malnutrition. For a person malnourished due to under-nutrition, the treatment includes increasing calories with a balance of nutrients. If it is bad enough, the nutrition may be supplied through an IV line or possible through a feeding tube (Nordqvist). This ensures the nutrients needed are supplied, along with the calories needed. For a person malnourished due to overconsumption, a diet with balanced nutrients and fewer calories is

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (2012), defines food security as “when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (para. 1). The human right to have access to food is fundamental. There are many meal assistance services within Australia that aim to improve food security and fight hunger. FairShare is a food charity organisation that rescues and accepts donated food to cook nutritious meals each week for those in need. FairShare’s vision is “a society where food is not wasted and hunger is minimised” (FairShare, 2014).

Malnutrition is defined as a lack of proper nutrition, caused by not having enough to eat, not eating enough of the right things, or being unable to use the food that one does eat. This is another environmental factor in which children of poor families are at a great disadvantage due to the fact that it tends to occur most in those confronting the adverse socioeconomic and environmental conditions typically associated with poverty. It has become widely known that malnutrition may lead to increased early child mortality, impairment of physical growth and substantial destruction to brain development. In addition, the short-term implications of malnutrition lead to long term complications and cognitive delays such as attention deficit disorder, impaired school performance, decreased IQ scores, memory deficiency, learning disabilities, reduced social skills, reduced language development, and reduced problem-solving abilities. It has even been argued that nutrition may be the single greatest environmental influence on babies in the womb, during infancy, and throughout the first years of life.