Nutrition 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

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

Food insecurity is defined as “the lack of access to enough food to ensure adequate nutrition.”1 The Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS) reported that 14.6% of US households were food insecure during at least some portion of 2008 (up 11.1% from 2007), the highest levels recorded since monitoring began in 1995.2 Food insecurity is a concern of under consumption and obesity is a disease of over consumption, yet both outcomes may coexist, seemingly incongruously, within the same household.2 The most popular explanation is that low-cost, energy-dense foods linked to obesity are favored by financially constrained households, who are the most likely to be food insecure.2 Another theory, focusing on environmental context net of individual circumstance, argues that obesity and insecurity are both symptoms of malnutrition, occurring in neighborhoods where nutritious foods are unavailable or unaffordable.2 A separate literature researches environmental roles in poor nutritional outcomes, recent studies link obesity as well as atherosclerosis and diabetes to the food environment, the local context of available food items.2 The theory is that local inaccessibility to healthy foods influences diet composition, a claim supported by evidence.2 Especially in poorer neighborhoods, food options are often limited to fast food restaurants, convenience stores, or grocery stores more poorly stocked both in

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

Nutrition is important for healthy life. Many people are still hungry around the world even though there is mass production of food. This is because of unhealthy food production. In today’s world we see many obese people because of high intake of high fat and cholesterol containing food. It is important to have a healthy diet/ nutritional intake for individuals to have good foundation for physical and mental health. Now a day’s healthy food is getting more expensive rather than unhealthy food. Poor people are forced to eat unhealthy food, while the rich can afford to eat whatever the please. Food insecurity is caused by individuals not having healthy food for their families due to their low income or political and

“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.”

Due to the unrest in Somalia, many children are malnourished because they are deprived of a balance diet.

Food insecurity is a huge risk factor when it comes to child welfare intervention, as 34% of child removal is due to neglect (Hick & Stokes, 2016). The basic definition of neglect according to Regehr and Kanani (2016), is the inability of a parent or guardian to meet a child’s essential needs, including adequate food. Evidently, this is a direct attack against racialized, single mothers because they make up 57% of minimum wage earners, which as discussed earlier, is not a substantial living wage (Drabble, 2016). Consequently, this leaves a great number of racial minority mothers at risk of child removal, despite the obstacles that derive from intersecting identities of gender, race and class. According to Hick and Stokes (2016), 40% of the

A large problem of childhood poverty is malnutrition. Since these children are growing up in poverty, many of the parents have a hard time supplying food for their kids. Surprisingly, there

Childhood and adolescence are expected to be the times of great functioning and physical health, yet poverty provokes this from occurring and children face poor health. Children living in poverty are at immense risk for their development, health and overall well-being. According to Komro, 2011, the absolute rate of poverty among children is higher in the United States than in other industrialized nations. Nationally, One in five children are living in poverty (Raphel, 2014). Malnourishment is one of the numerous outcomes from poverty; children are suffering each day in America with this threat to their health. Malnourishment is a result of either not having sufficient nutrients in their diet or having it excessively that it causes health problems.

The day before Thanksgiving I left work thinking about all the things I still needed to do for the holiday such as picking up take-out so I wouldn’t have to cook anything that night, making one more trip to the store, and wondering if I should buy another dessert. It started raining, and I was hoping it would stop before I had to park at the grocery store, and the store wouldn’t be too crowded. When I got to my first destination of the night, my thoughts stopped, and I realized that my worries were pretty superficial. I had just arrived for my volunteer shift at the food pantry at Rosie’s Place, a Shelter and resource center for women in Boston. There I remembered just what being thankful was all about. The women who were picking up their groceries that night didn’t have my superficial worries, they had to worry about how to make food stretch from one check to the next. They had to worry about carrying multiple heavy bags of food in the rain, on a crowed bus and through neighborhoods that are not safe in the daylight, never mind at night. These women and their families are among the many in the country that are food insecure.

Childhood and adolescence are expected to be the times of great functioning and physical health, yet poverty provokes this from occurring and children face poor health. Children living in poverty are at immense risk for their development, health and overall well-being. According to Komro, 2011, the absolute rate of poverty among children is higher in the United States than in other industrialized nations. Nationally, One in five children are living in poverty (Raphel, 2014). Malnourishment is one of the numerous outcomes from poverty; children are suffering each day in America with this threat to their health. Malnourishment is a result of either not having sufficient nutrients in their diet or having it excessively that it causes health problems.

Imagine being so hungry, you have to resort to extreme measures just to survive, imagine witnessing first hand, your children suffering and you can’t do anything for them, imagine living day to day in fear and not knowing whether today or tomorrow would be the last day of you or your child being alive. This is a major concern for families facing food insecurity all over the world. Everyday children in developing countries are suffering from childhood stunting. These children are going days without having anything to eat, clean water to drink, and getting the proper nutrients essential for growth and

In troubled areas, one can often see an increase within malnourished children. This means that the children’s immune system is highly exposed, which puts them in a vulnerable position towards diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhoea. The first 1000 days of a child’s life is greatly crucial for its health and development. If they do not develop accordingly to the normal standards, their development is getting paused, which is normally the case for malnourished children. On a global scale, 159 million children under the age of 5 suffers from malnutrition, where approximately 3 million of these die on a yearly basis (unicef.org.).