Malnutrition And Asylum Essay

Freedom from hunger and malnutrition is a basic human right and their alleviation is a fundamental prerequisite for human and national development. WHO has traditionally focused on the vast magnitude of the many forms of nutritional deficiency, along with their associated mortality and morbidity in infants, young children and mothers. However, the world is also seeing a dramatic increase in other forms of malnutrition characterized by obesity and the long-term implications of unbalanced dietary and lifestyle practices that result in chronic disease such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.

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

Long term effects of malnutrition can cause children and adults to have a lack of energy

In the article, Daynes discusses the health impacts that the refugees may encounter when making the journey from the Middle East to Europe. Daynes brings up the increase in psychological health issues that the refugees may go through as they face traumatic experiences. She brings up the issues of pregnancies and how dangerous the route becomes as they face an increased risk of premature delivery. Daynes discusses the health impacts of the refugee camps as well and how the poor living conditions may cause serious harm to the refugees. Daynes argues the dangers of the journey and how everyone, regardless if they are migrants, should have appropriate medical

Malnutrition as defined by Groark & Song (2012) is a state of nutritional imbalance most often related to undernutrition. They go on to explain that malnutrition is both when a child is eating too little or too much and not getting essential nutrients in early childhood, which can lead to obesity (Groark & Song, 2012). The short term effects of malnutrition are more noticeable in early childhood education settings in the form of behavioral and mental health issues. A poorly nourished child may become disruptive or extremely withdrawn in the school setting, which can negatively affect their learning as well as the learning of their classmates (Groark & Song, 2012). Micronutrient deficiency is a major effect of malnutrition. Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) is associated with poor mental and motor development, poor cognition and school achievement (Prado, & Dewey, 2014). The long term effects of malnutrition become more evident later on in childhood. These effects manifest themselves more in the child’s physical and cognitive development. One of the major effects of malnutrition is childhood obesity. Obesity, if untreated, is known to lead to serious health problem later in life affecting the physical, cognitive and affect development of children and adults. Another significant effect of malnutrition is growth failure, as defined by Groark & Song (2012) describes a growth pattern that is abnormal and is the result of taking in too few calories. Children who suffer from growth

In many cases, hunger starts during pregnancy, before the child is even born. This inherited malnutrition increases the child’s risk for developing illnesses and learning problems when he or she starts school. Prenatal malnutrition can result in premature birth, low birth weight, smaller head size and lower brain weight. (American Psychological Association, 2015)

Initially, one of the issues faced by refugees is mental health. There is a report written by Fazel, Reed, Brick and Stein, which is published online (2011). They mentioned that the refugee who is separated from the families are tolerated the damage both from the heart and physical part. Focusing on this aspect, there are some graphs given in the report, which are about the basic information of refugee and the mental health condition of them. Basic on the table, it can be found that the refugee children cannot accommodate the social environment in the new country easily. Mental illnesses such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder have always

The effects of nutrition can begin before birth, with the nutrition of the mother. Under nutrition can result in negative effects of the development of the brain that can become permanent and irreversible. One example is the lack of iron, which is a necessary part of the brain’s tissue. When iron deficiency is present nerve impulses tend to move slower. “Iron deficiency…is associated with behavior changes and delayed psychomotor development” (Nutrition and Cognitive Development, 2001), as well as decrease attention span, irritability, fatigue, and difficultly with concentration. “ Anemia is one of the most prevalent nutritional disorders in the world, affecting nearly one

Chronic under nutrition grows in the period between birth and two years of age and cannot be reversed afterwards. This early growth deficit increases newborn and child death and drops the cognitive function of those who continue to live. This disorderdeters efforts to realize the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 1,2,3,4,5 and 6. In 2004, merely in terms of output loss, the cost of not averting the above disorder was valued at USD 110 million per annum.

Malnutrition is a major topic, but what some people do not know about it is that there are many different aspects to it, which causes it to be such a broad topic. That can also leave one ignorant to a lot of the general information about all malnutrition is. Over 2 billion of the world’s population suffer from malnutrition. It is also a hidden, yet prominent cause of death in children, taking the lives of 2.6 million kids, which is a third of global child deaths. A common misconception about malnutrition is that it is only a field in itself. What

Each year more than 5000 New Zealand children become hospitalized because of malnutrition (Lewis, 2007). Malnutrition refers to the lack of sufficient nutrients in the body. This means it can affect both overweight-obese children and underweight children (The Press, 2008). This social problem needs to be addressed as the lack of nutrients in the body can affect organ function, concentration and increases the risk of infections (Gavin, 2012).

Malnutrition caused by the deprivation of certain essential nutrients can be life threatening. There are two types of poor nutrition related to deprivation of nutrients. Malnutrition is characterized by not eating enough calories or consuming enough energy for the body to work properly. The importance of proper nutrition shows as early as the formation of an embryo during fetal development. Without the consumption of essential vitamins and minerals by the mother a fetus will be unable to develop properly, if at all. Also, the

Malnutrition is a serious condition in which the body does not get the right balance of nutrients and calories needed to sustain good health and development. It has two sides - undernutrition and obesity/overweight. Undernutrition arises mainly as a result of inadequate or unbalanced diets, but is also caused by poor nutrient absorption or a loss of nutrients due to illness (2000, Smith LC and Haddad L). Undernutrition manifests in stunting, underweight, wasting and micronutrient deficiencies. Micronutrients refer to vitamins and minerals. In this paper the term malnutrition refers to undernutrition.

Children with severe growth retardation secondary to protein-energy malnutrition in the post weaning period manifest a striking behavior syndrome that has been well described as torpid, apathetic, inactive, fearful, cheerless, nearly, mute, and anorexic and they lack spontaneity (DeLong, 1993). In 2005 an estimated thirty two percent of all children in developing countries under the age of five, approximately one hundred seventy eight million children, were shown to have stunted growth or low weight for height (Ruel & Hoddinott, 2008). In the United States, malnourished children ages three to eight have been shown to have low physical function, poor academic performance, greater weight gain amongst girls and low psychosocial functioning (Ruel & Hoddinott, 2008). Malnutrition in the early years can result in a lowered IQ by approximately fifteen points. An early deprivation of critical resources to the brain can contribute to the cause of learning deficiencies and contribute to attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and decreased performance in schools across the

Malnutrition can either be under nutrition or over nutrition. All these are mentioned in the research but more attention is given to the latter. Under nutrition is a state resulting from intake of inadequate amount of nutrients, the nutrients commonly affected are protein and energy sources known as protein energy malnutrition (PEM),( AMREF training manual 1990).