The more I have learned about the importance of proper nutrition, however, the more I have come to realize the magnitude of the problems that worldwide malnutrition is causing and will cause in the future, the more concerned I have become. The statistics are bleak, and if major efforts to improve humankind's dietary intake are not made, the results could be devastating.
The World Health Organization's website "Nutrition for Health and Development," http://www.who.int/nutrition/en/ states the following statistics:
- On the average, a person dies every second as a direct or indirect result of malnutrition - 4000 every hour - 100 000 each day - 36 million each year - 58 % of all deaths (2001-2004 estimates).
- On the average, a child dies every 5 seconds as a direct or indirect result of malnutrition - 700 every hour - 16 000 each day - 6 million each year - 60% of all child deaths (2002-2008 estimates).
Those are huge numbers, especially when you consider the fact that providing people with education and access to good food could virtually eradicate the problem. This sounds like a simple solution, but we have a long way to go.
The website "An End To World Hunger: Hope For The Future," http://library.thinkquest.org/C002291/high/present/stats.htm lists the following trends in the worldwide nutrition problem:
- In the Asian, African and Latin American countries, well over 500 million people are living in what the World Bank has called "absolute poverty"
- Every year 15 million children die of hunger
- For the price of one missile, a school full of hungry children could eat lunch every day for 5 years
- The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed one-third is starving- Since you've entered this site at least 200 people have died of starvation. Over 4 million will die this year.
- One in twelve people worldwide is malnourished, including 160 million children under the age of 5.
- The Indian subcontinent has nearly half the world's hungry people. Africa and the rest of Asia together have approximately 40%, and the remaining hungry people are found in Latin America and other parts of the world. Hunger in Global Economy
- Nearly one in four people, 1.3 billion - a majority of humanity - live on less than $1 per day, while the world's 358 billionaires have assets exceeding the combined annual incomes of countries with 45 percent of the world's people. UNICEF
- 3 billion people in the world today struggle to survive on US$2/day.
- In 1994 the Urban Institute in Washington DC estimated that one out of 6 elderly people in the U.S. has an inadequate diet.
- In the U.S. hunger and race are related. In 1991 46% of African-American children were chronically hungry, and 40% of Latino children were chronically hungry compared to 16% of white children.
- The infant mortality rate is closely linked to inadequate nutrition among pregnant women. The U.S. ranks 23rd among industrial nations in infant mortality. African-American infants die at nearly twice the rate of white infants.
- One out of every eight children under the age of twelve in the U.S. goes to bed hungry every night.
- Half of all children under five years of age in South Asia and one third of those in sub-Saharan Africa are malnourished.
- In 1997 alone, the lives of at least 300,000 young children were saved by vitamin A supplementation programmes in developing countries.
- Malnutrition is implicated in more than half of all child deaths worldwide - a proportion unmatched by any infectious disease since the Black Death
- About 183 million children weigh less than they should for their age
- To satisfy the world's sanitation and food requirements would cost only US$13 billion- what the people of the United States and the European Union spend on perfume each year.
- The assets of the world's three richest men are more than the combined GNP of all the least developed countries on the planet.
- Every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger
- It is estimated that some 800 million people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition, about 100 times as many as those who actually die from it each year.
Malnutrition causes more child deaths, more low-birth rate babies and more stillbirths than any other factor in existence. Children who are malnourished and survive suffer from poor health, stunted growth and decreased ability to learn. For example, iodine deficiency lowers intelligence by 10 to 15 I.Q. points. Additionally, studies have shown that children who are hungry cannot concentrate at school. I know that I can neither concentrate nor be pleasant when I am hungry (and I am far from starving).
according to the World Health Organization, "If a pregnant woman is malnourished, her child may weigh less at birth and have a lower chance of survival. Vitamin A deficiency from malnutrition is the chief cause of preventable blindness in the developing world, and kids with severe vitamin A deficiency have a greater chance of getting sick or dying from infections such as diarrhea or measles. Iodine deficiency, another form of malnutrition, can cause mental retardation and delayed development. Iron deficiency can make kids less active and less able to concentrate. Teens who are malnourished often have trouble keeping up in school."
While malnutrition is considered to be a third world problem, in 2009 it was estimated that more than a million children in the United States go to bed hungry every night. This number is expected to rise as the recession continues. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/17/millions-hungry-households-us-report
The following are signs and symptoms of malnutrition. If children are displaying problems with behavior or academics, teachers should consider hunger as a possible cause:
- fatigue and low energy
- dizziness
- poor immune function (which can hamper the body's ability to fight off infections)
- dry, scaly skin
- swollen and bleeding gums
- decaying teeth
- slowed reaction times and trouble paying attention
- underweight
- poor growth
- muscle weakness
- bloated stomach
- osteoporosis, or fragile bones that break easily
- problems with organ function
- problems learning
While the statistics of world hunger are staggering, I found something really shocking during my research. While it is commonly understood that hunger and malnutrition go hand in hand - there is another dietary factor that leads to malnutrition, and it is a problem that is steadily increasing worldwide. Childhood obesity and malnutrition are just as strongly related as hunger and malnutrition.
According to the CDC, childhood obesity rates in The United States alone have triples in the past 30 years, and doubled in preschool age children. Malnutrition is not simply caused by lack of food, it is caused by lack of nutritious foods. With the increased popularity of fat foods and processed convenience foods, children are living on a diet of grease and salt with little or no nutritional value. According to the CDC's website "Childhood Overweight and Obesity," http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/index.html, Obese children can suffer from all of the same conditions as hungry children with the addition of:
- Hypertension
- Heart Disease
- High Cholesterol
- Pre Diabetes and Diabetes
- Gastrointestinal Disease
- Depression
- Poor Self –Esteem
- Sleep Apnea
- Early Puberty
- Bone Disease
- Reproductive Problems
As a teacher, I think it is important to teach children and families about the importance of a healthy diet and lifestyle. Additionally, it is my obligation to help hungry families locate resources for healthy foods. Finally, I am committed to working with my school's food program in order to help ensure that the children we care for receive healthy meals and snacks every day.
Resources:
Websites:
the CDC's website: Childhood Overweight and Obesity
Guardian: Record Numbers Go Hungry In The US
An End To World Hunger: Hope For The Future http://library.thinkquest.org/C002291/high/present/stats.htm
The World Health Organization's website: Nutrition for Health and Development
Articles:
"The World Health Organization Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition: methodology and applications" Mercedes de Onis and Monika Blössner
"Childhood obesity: Public-health crisis, common sense cure" Cara B Ebbeling; Dorota B Pawlak; David S Ludwig
"Worldwide Trends in Childhood Overweight and Obesity" Youfa Wang and Tim Lobstein
"Long-term Poverty and Child Development in the United States" Sanders Korenman
"Child development in developing countries 2: Child development: risk factors"Susan P Walker
I LOVE your blogs by the way! When I'm not suppose to be focused on homework I will go back and read some of them. Anyways, in regards to this weeks topic. It amazes me how many teachers I work with mainly upper grades (K-5) that forget about the effects on hunger in "our backyard".
ReplyDeleteAlso, I found the information you shared on malnurshiment not just being a lack of food but lack of nourishing foods something young or inexperienced parents need to be reminded of.
This is a great blog! Thank you for sharing all the statistics on world hunger. It is saddening that there is so much hunger in the world today, ideally it seems that it would be easy to solve. We have children that come to school hungry everyday and we have to meet those needs before we can teach.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting post.In the state of Georgia, some school districts have started serving Vegetarian meals every lunch which i believe is a great way of promoting good diet among the students. Child obesity does not only affect the health of the child but also the emotional state of the child.
ReplyDeleteOlufemmy