Malnutrition is a state of poor nutrition, where an individual's diet lacks the necessary nutrients, vitamins, and minerals to maintain optimal health. This can lead to a range of health problems and inhibitions of growth. Malnutrition can start as early as possible during pregnancy if the mother is lacking some nutrients adequate for fetal development, this can lead to complications such as low birth weight, fetal distress, and other health problems after birth.
Although some adults experience malnutrition, children are more likely to be malnourished due to reasons such as;
Inadequate breastfeeding
· Breast milk is a crucial component in preventing malnutrition and starvation for a baby's development. Every mother needs to breastfeed their babies exclusively for six months before starting appropriate complementary feeding and continuing breastfeeding till at least 2 years of age. Research shows breast milk contains all the adequate nutrients and fluids necessary for babies' growth especially for their brain cells and also adequate hydration for babies' system function.
· One of the key factors of practicing exclusive breastfeeding is giving the mother time to save up enough resources to start complementary feeding at six months of age especially if the mother struggles with financial stability.
· Aside it nutritional value, breastfeeding exclusively helps ease of mothers' stress levels due the release of oxytocin (love hormone) during breastfeeding, allowing the baby and the mother to have some bond between them.
Inappropriate complementary feeding
· Although some practice exclusive breastfeeding but face difficulties along the line due to the approach and skills they adopt in feeding their babies. Most babies develop a sense of taste for food due to what they’re being constantly fed. It is advisable to few children what the family eats most at home but spices and peppers should be avoided and also make the food very softer. In other words, one should feed children a balanced meal that contains all the necessary nutrients for optimum growth and development.
Inappropriate Snacking
· Snacking is one of the most important feeding methods used to improve health and wellbeing but the choice of foods used as snacks can cause serious health problems for children if not done right, parents should make sure to adopt healthy snacking habits and avoid refined carbohydrates and sugary products for snacks. Healthy snacks like yogurt, millet drinks, coconut milk, soya milk, or soya chunks can be used to boost healthy eating habits for the prevention of malnutrition and communicable diseases.
Poor nutrition knowledge
· Inadequate information on how nutrition is important in our daily lives especially children can lead to malnutrition in a way that can make one feed their children wrongly which can lead to malnutrition. It is advisable to visit the child welfare clinic often not only for taking vaccines, vitamin A, and weight checks but also for education purposes since education sessions are done by nutritionists and some health professionals on how to feed infants properly for good growth and development.
Medication side effects;
· Some people do self-medication at home without seeking professional assistance without knowing the side effects of that particular medication. Some medications restrict nutrient absorption which can lead to malnutrition in the body, others cause the baby to experience prolonged sleep which can make the baby eat less than expected. Grip water which is commonly used in Ghana by most mothers without seeking a prescription from health professionals, they given to children for various reasons such as helping the baby to pass out gas when a baby feels any discomfort or cries a lot, the quantity and number of times give can prolong baby’s sleep which will lead to less feeding patterns and there lead to malnutrition if care isn’t taken.
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF A MALNOURISHED CHILD.
1. Weight loss or failure to gain weight; due to inadequate protein and carbohydrate intake.
2. Stunted growth (short stature); insufficient protein, carbohydrates, and energy intake can impair growth. The lack of micronutrients like vitamin D, calcium, and Zinc which contribute to bone structure and growth can contribute to stunting in children.
3. Thin or wasted appearance is loss of muscle mass, poor skin elasticity, and visibility of bones like the ribs. Lacking protein can cause muscle loss and damage.
4. Dry, brittle hair and Weak or brittle nails; although not all children are hairy because some naturally have thin hair that can be genetically engineered malnutrition can lead to loss of hair which is mostly thin, brittle, and discolored, in such cases, hair becomes stagnant at the point in time, the lack of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins like A, C, B7 and B22, lower Minerals levels in the body like zinc, iron, copper, selenium, and magnesium which are found in fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, etc can lead to loss of hair.
5.Skin problems (dryness, rash, lesions); inadequate hydration can cause skin damage. In addition to slowing down body metabolism and increasing body temperature in children, the consumption of fruits, drinking hygienic water, and taking soups can help prevent skin dryness.
6. Oedema (swelling) in feet, ankles, or hands: associated with inadequate protein, vitamins, and minerals like B12, D, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and zinc which can impair fluid balance in the body.
7. Poor oral health (gum recession, tooth decay) is associated with inadequate vitamin C, calcium, and vitamin D.
8. Pale or yellowish skin; lack of vitamin A which is essential for skin health and immune function, iron for hemoglobin production and oxygen transport, vitamin B12, and folate crucial for red blood cell production.
Common Malnutrition Disorder and their symptoms.
1. Kwashiorkor (protein-energy malnutrition): Oedema, muscle wasting.
2. Marasmus (calorie deficiency): Weight loss, muscle wasting.
3. Scurvy (vitamin C deficiency): Poor wound healing, oedema.
4. Beriberi (thiamine/vitamin B1 deficiency): Oedema, neurological symptoms.
5. Rickets (Vitamin D deficiency): Softening of bones (osteomalacia) bowed legs or curved spine, delayed growth and development
Below are the statistics on malnutrition in Africa, west Africa and in Ghana;
Africa Malnutrition statistics
In Africa, 51.8% of women of reproductive age suffer from anemia
• The prevalence of stunting among children under 5 years old is 30.9%, higher than the global average of 22%
• The prevalence of wasting among children under 5 years old is 6.9%, higher than the global average of 6.7% as of 2019 and 2020
West Africa Malnutrition Statistics
• In West Africa, 15.2% of infants have low birth weight as of 2019
• Only 33.9% of infants under 6 months are exclusively breastfed, lower than the global average of 43.8% as of 2020
• The adult population also faces malnutrition, with 8% of men and 7.2% of women living with diabetes as of 2019
• Obesity affects 5.6% of men and 15.6% of women in West Africa as of 2016
Ghana Malnutrition Statistics
• In Ghana, 7% of children under five are acutely malnourished, published in the Ghana Global Nutrition report in 2021.
Reference
World Health Organization (WHO), Global Anemia Reduction Efforts (2019)
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), The State of the World's Children 2020 report
Ghana Global Nutrition report 2021
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3 Comments
Interesting
ReplyDeleteThanks for the wonderful education 🙏🙏
ReplyDeleteInsightful
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