Environmental Scarcity And Food Insecurity

Despite the vast research on nutrition and health, malnutrition is still a major fatality in this present day. Policymakers, social scientist and medical experts have expressed alarm about the growing problem. While most agree that the issue deserves attention, consensus dissolves around how to respond and resolve the problem. Malnourishment continues to be a primary health liability in developing nations such as Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. It is globally the most significant risk factor for illness and death, predominantly with hundreds of millions of pregnant women

Most of the world’s hunger and malnutrition is located in poverty stricken areas. In fact, ninety-eight percent of food deprivation is in developing countries. One of the leading reasons to this, is the high level of poverty in these areas. People living in poverty often don’t have enough money to afford food, and when they do, it generally doesn’t have enough nutrition to keep a human body running properly. On average, 896 million people in developing countries live on fourteen dollars or less a week. This income prevents people from being able to purchase food, causing malnutrition. Hunger is the main devastation of poverty and “is often called the most severe and critical manifestation of poverty”, mainly due to low the low income of most

The word means poor nutrition and malnutrition is a broad term referring to both under-nutrition and over-nutrition.

References Shashidhar, H. (2016, March 10). Malnutrition. Retrieved September 27, 2016, from

In its State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012 report, the United Nations found that nearly 870 million people around the globe are chronically malnourished (Ruttan 6).  Chronic malnourishment weakens the immune system, and it significantly increases people's risk of contracting infectious diseases. As a result of the problem and severity of malnourishment, one of the United Nations top eight goals is to drastically reduce the number of people who suffer from this condition (Johnson 4). During the course of working towards their goal, the U.N. has identified agricultural growth as one of the most effective ways to reduce the prevalence of malnourishment. However, the United Nation has also determined that in order for agricultural growth

“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.”

Food is a necessary part of ever individual’s daily life. Without food, the body cannot function properly, resulting in poor health, exhaustion, and even death by starvation. Therefore, food insecurity continues to be an international global epidemic. The journal article by Harrigan suggests that the citizens of the Sub-Saharan African country of Malawia are in further poverty due to their lack of food and agricultural resources. The newspaper article from the Guardian tells the real life story of African citizens struggling to farm and find food due to the crop shortages that have spanned Africa for the past two years. This is a current global issue, and the journal and news article prove that there is much to be done in order to help restore

Poverty plays a huge role in how much a country gets to eat. Here in the United States, five percent of households experienced very low food security, according to the organization of Feeding America. Although that number should really be zero, it as actually relatively low compared to countries like Afghanistan, one of the world’s poorest countries. One of the biggest issues in this country is food insecurity, leaving 33 percent of the population without a guarantee of food. Another example can be given by the organization World Information Transfer. They said that Ethiopia has been food deficient since at least the year of

The United States has many different nutrition problems. There are people living in food deserts, people who don’t have money to buy food, people who don’t know what healthy foods look like, and many others. These issues should be of concern to everyone in the country. The nutrition and health of these people affects everyone. I think that two of the largest nutrition issues facing the country and obesity and malnutrition.

Hunger in the United States is a large problem that still affects the lives of our citizens seven years after the 2008 economic crisis. This is a problem that is still growing steadily in the lives of Americans, especially those who are living in poverty. Even though the United State’s rate of food insecure households is still far below the rates that are found in developing countries, it is still persistent problem as the issues of food insecurity move away from under nutrition and towards the quality of a persons diet. While poverty alone does not cause food insecurity, it is the main cause of being food insecure.

When tackling the subject of food insecurity, uncertainty is the key notion. Many of us live our lives fleeing from the term; however, some Americans know this awareness as their existence. Food insecurity simply means the lack of the ability to provide food and sustain a healthy lifestyle. The USDA explains, “It is a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food;” adequate food being the key word. The USDA further goes on to categorize it into two sub categories; low and very low food security. “Low food security” is explained as “reduced quality, variety of diet; little or no indication of reduced food intake.” “Very low food security is multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns

Malnutrition is a growing problem in the world. According to Medical News Today, malnutrition can include many things such as undernutrition and even overnutrition. Undernutrition can include not getting enough nutrients and calories in the diet, which can diminish a person’s growth and ability to fight off diseases. Overnutrition is the opposite where too many calories are consumed leading to an imbalance of nutrients in the diet and can also cause some health effects such as obesity. If certain nutrients are missing in the diet or if too many nutrients are in the diet, it can affect nutrition and how the body functions.

Malnutrition is serious and a health problem. Your health is what keeps your body strong enough to fight any colds and help you stay alive. If your body is unhealthy, then you have bigger chances of becoming ill. Not having enough food will give you headaches, make you throw up, become thinner, and eventually become sick and close to death.

Malnutrition is when the body doesn’t receive enough nutrients for proper function. Undernutrition is when one’s body could be underweight, too short for their age, or excessively thin and “receiving fewer calories than the minimum dietary energy requirement” (Withcott & Laposata, 2012). Overnutrition is a form of malnutrition but comes from eating too much, eating junk, lack of physical activities or just eating the wrong foods and the intake too many supplements. “Overnutrition leads to unhealthy weight gain, which leads to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other health problems” (Withcott & Laposata, 2012). One is of the opinion that overnutrition is the most common in the United States. In our textbook by Withcott & Laposata, in the

According to Merriam Webster Online, malnutrition is defined as “the unhealthy condition that results from not eating enough food or not eating enough healthy food.” A lack of nutrition or over-nutrition is associated with acute and long-term issues such as “poor wound healing, higher infection risks, increased hospital stays, and eventual mortality and morbidity.” (McCarthy, Dixon, Crabtree, Eaton-Evans, McNulty, 2012).