Chapter 2
Household diet-related practices and food frequencies in forest areas of Cameroon
Introduction
During the last decade, debates on malnutrition and nutrient deficiency have taken a central stage in food security analysis (FAO, 2015; Germaine et al., 2011). In many developing countries including Cameroon, nutritional habits are gradually changing (Tata et al., 2013), increasing the incidence of high prevalence of infectious diseases (HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria) and micronutrients deficiency (vitamin A, ion and iodine deficiency) and other nutrition related conditions such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (Tanya et al., 2011; Abu-Basutu, 2013; Kengne et al., 2005). According to Tanya et al. 2011, in order to carry out effective interventions in the area of nutrition, it is necessary to have a good knowledge of the nutritional habits, factors influencing nutritional habit and common micronutrient deficiencies.
There has been a lot of misconceptions on the causes of undernourishment in poor regions and possible solution path ways. Intensify local agricultural activities in order to ensure local food self-sufficiency is the most promoted option to address undernourishment. Contrarily, slash and burn agricultural has been accused as a principal source of deforestation and increasing deforestation has been a big worry in that it leads to climatic change which in turn affect agricultural productivity. This suggest that in as much as people need for
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
It is estimated that two billion people worldwide suffer from malnutrition. Out of those people, “52 million children under 5 years of age are wasted, 17 million are severely wasted and 155 million are stunted” (Malnutrition). 3 million of those children are from the Democratic Republic of Congo. EE: There are several reasons for the concentration of malnutrition in the DRC. E: First of all, The Democratic Republic of Congo has been in the middle of a civil war for nearly 10 years. So the question is, how does this affect the dietary needs of citizens? Displaced settlements have trouble receiving healthcare and they also face “alarming shortages of food, water, and shelter”. Overall, there have been 2.7 million displaced people and those rates are still going up. In addition, there are 120,000 refugees fleeing to these provinces, and in 5 of the eastern provinces alone, there are 6.7 million hungry people. (10 Facts). Settlements, such as Tanganyika, have seen nearly half a million citizens displaced within a year (Democratic Republic of Congo). These provinces will soon see these numbers climb if something is not done to stop this growing issue.
This assignment will discuss a trust adapted version of the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST). It will demonstrate an understanding of theoretical knowledge used to develop the assessment tool. The assignment will focus on three components within the tool; discussing the reliability and validity when used in a clinical environment. A reflection of my own experience using the tool will be included and linked to aspects of reliability. Any issues with reliability will be identified and suggestions given on how they can be corrected to aid future use.
What nutrients are and how they affect our body, malnutrition, deficiency etc. The guidelines which determine nutritional health including dietary reference values (DRV), what a balanced diet is and how to maintain this, what BMI is and how to calculate it, the eat well plate, I will explain possible influences on dietary intake, assess how these influences may affect the nutritional health of individuals and I will also make realistic recommendations for minimising the impact of negative influences on individuals in a specific health and social care setting.
References Shashidhar, H. (2016, March 10). Malnutrition. Retrieved September 27, 2016, from
Throughout time, humans have pushed forward in every aspect in life in order to improve their living standards, wealth and most importantly the agricultural sector which is the base of every human race. Food is the basic requirement for any individual to stay alive and healthy. In an article by Tamsin McMahon, she states that over the past 60 years, the world population has grown from 2.5 billion to 7 billion while world hunger dropped from 40% down to 15% (McMahon T., July 2012). This shows that our agricultural advances through technology have helped control world hunger and decrease it by more than half, but this is a short-term solution if we want to consider the future generations that depend on our current actions toward the three main pillars of agriculture which are: Health and nutrition, Economy and sustainability all while considering the local small farms and corporate farms.
Guatemala does not make the top 50 list of the world’s poorest countries, but somehow this country has the fourth largest rate of malnutrition. Malnutrition is defined as the lack of proper nutrition, cause by not having enough to eat. To truly understand the statistics one must first examine the diet of the average Guatemalan family. In understanding the severity of this issue across the country, the effect on the children, both long and short term, and the multi-generational effects of this epidemic, a solution can be pinpointed to deal with this devastating problem. It is important to know what these children are consuming on a daily bases in order to tell where the child is missing nutrients.
Food insecurity rates have soared to unprecedented levels in recent years, becoming one of the most important and high-profile nutrition-related public health issues in the United States (Gundersen, Engelhard, & Waxman, 2014). In the city of Tiffin, there are many people who are hungry and suffering from poverty. Children in many different countries are suffering because they do not have the money to eat and also are unable to get the effective amount of nutritional food for their growing bodies. Poverty and hunger are some of the leading problems in the world today. Even with the advancements the world has come across with agriculture there are still large quantities of people who are unable to eat appropriate amounts of food
In postwar Sierra Leone, and amongst the many developmental challenges, food insecurity has been impeding rural development which continues to pose problems on the livelihood of the rural population which is predominantly peasant farmers. Many observers including those from the western area and foreigners always ask questions that why the rural has sufficient green and arable land which can produce them more food but failing to utilize it to grow them more.? Suspicions have been rife that land tenure might have been the impeding the production of food for food sufficiency and security. Therefore this study will further contribute in investigating the effect of the land tenure in rural Sierra Leone and will proffer recommendations that will
As I got older and running became an integral part of my life, the quality of food I fueled myself with become more significant and thus, my interest in health developed. From there, added knowledge of the world’s nutritional circumstance has helped construct my desire to expand improvement of my personal health, to improvement of the world’s health. We live in a society where 1 billion people have health problems because they do not get enough to eat and another 2.1 billion face health problems from eating too much. With a world population of 7 billion and nearly half unhealthy due to improper nourishment, it is obvious that food production and consumption is a global issue unfittingly managed. Such a problem is one we often assume others are handling, but I want
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.
Nutrition in the developed countries is not as much of a concern as it is for the developing countries such as Asia, Latin America and Africa. Looking back in time,
Most people know that good nutrition is important for good health. But not many people realize the importance a healthy diet can have on their health and their children’s health for years to come. A good diet helps children grow, develop, and do well in school. It also helps young and older adults to work productively and feel their best. Without a proper diet or a serious lack of nutrition a person is making his or her self susceptible to all sorts of diseases. All people, young and old, need to have a healthy and nutritional diet if they want to avoid the many diseases caused by poor nutrition.
In order to avoid mass malnutrition, there needs to be a 70% increase in food production by 2050 (Isaacson 2015). One way to increase crop yield to meet this need is to use more land to produce more food. However, 40% percent of the planet’s total landmass is already used for agriculture (Isaacson 2015). Where could we find the land and resources to sustain such an increase in food production? To address these issues, we could slash and burn forests to create arable land and increase agricultural inputs such as water and fertilizer. However, destroying forests exacerbates climate change, and there already exists a lack of natural resources. A more effective solution to the issue of food shortage is to use genetic improvement of crops.
Malnutrition is a serious health concern for people that are residing in Haiti, especially the children. Malnutrition has a serious effect on the body, “children [that] suffer from acute malnutrition are at a great risk for severe morbidity and mortality” (Roller, Gray, Previl, Forrest, 2014, p. 1094). There is no reason for these children to be suffering from malnutrition when there is such a simple solution to fix malnutrition. According to UNICEF the percent of children that are underweight and is considered moderate to severe is 11.4