a deeper look at prevention and treatment
A great deal of my research and previous blog posts have been focused on the causes and severity of undernourishment, but there is still potential light at the end of the tunnel. Several organizations have developed methods in which America can provide aid and/or educate its people on this global crisis.
After MANY thorough reads and an excessive amount of highlighting, I have come to realize that ending acute malnutrition is a very complex social and political challenge. According to UNICEF, prevention and long term solutions involve dismantling unequal power structures, improving equitable access to health services and nutritious foods, promoting breastfeeding and optimal infant and young child feeding practices, improving water and sanitation, and planning for cyclic food shortages and emergencies.
But in the short term, children with severe acute malnutrition need urgent life saving treatment to survive. Until relatively recently, most children were only treated in hospitals where they received therapeutic services along with medical care; and many more were never reached at all. With the creation of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) however, the picture has changed dramatically.
Ready-to-use therapeutic food is a high-energy, micronutrient enhanced paste used to treat children under age 5 who are affected by severe acute malnutrition. As its name implies, RUTF does not need to be cooked or prepared before consumption. This makes it a practical solution where cooking facilities and fuel are limited. RUTF has a long shelf life and is safe for use even in the absence of clean drinking water.
The use of RUTF has transformed the treatment of severe acute malnutrition, in part, because it allows those children without medical complications to be cured right in their own homes and communities. This approach is referred to as the community-based management of severe acute malnutrition.
In this approach, community health workers are trained in early detection to recognize cases of severe acute malnutrition and provide RUTF and routine medical care. At the same time, health workers learn to recognize medical complications and refer those children to hospitals and health centers for further in-patient treatment. Many children with severe acute malnutrition also have infections, including HIV, making interactions with health workers important opportunities for voluntary HIV testing and treatment counselling.
The power of the community-based approach is that early detection and early treatment leads to better rates of survival and the treatment of many more children. It also empowers communities and is much more cost-effective than in-patient treatment.
The treatment of severe acute malnutrition is a last opportunity to save a child’s life when all else has failed. There are many other short term advancements - that deserve more attention - similar to this that communities should consider implementing in order to save lives.
After MANY thorough reads and an excessive amount of highlighting, I have come to realize that ending acute malnutrition is a very complex social and political challenge. According to UNICEF, prevention and long term solutions involve dismantling unequal power structures, improving equitable access to health services and nutritious foods, promoting breastfeeding and optimal infant and young child feeding practices, improving water and sanitation, and planning for cyclic food shortages and emergencies.
But in the short term, children with severe acute malnutrition need urgent life saving treatment to survive. Until relatively recently, most children were only treated in hospitals where they received therapeutic services along with medical care; and many more were never reached at all. With the creation of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) however, the picture has changed dramatically.
Ready-to-use therapeutic food is a high-energy, micronutrient enhanced paste used to treat children under age 5 who are affected by severe acute malnutrition. As its name implies, RUTF does not need to be cooked or prepared before consumption. This makes it a practical solution where cooking facilities and fuel are limited. RUTF has a long shelf life and is safe for use even in the absence of clean drinking water.
The use of RUTF has transformed the treatment of severe acute malnutrition, in part, because it allows those children without medical complications to be cured right in their own homes and communities. This approach is referred to as the community-based management of severe acute malnutrition.
In this approach, community health workers are trained in early detection to recognize cases of severe acute malnutrition and provide RUTF and routine medical care. At the same time, health workers learn to recognize medical complications and refer those children to hospitals and health centers for further in-patient treatment. Many children with severe acute malnutrition also have infections, including HIV, making interactions with health workers important opportunities for voluntary HIV testing and treatment counselling.
The power of the community-based approach is that early detection and early treatment leads to better rates of survival and the treatment of many more children. It also empowers communities and is much more cost-effective than in-patient treatment.
The treatment of severe acute malnutrition is a last opportunity to save a child’s life when all else has failed. There are many other short term advancements - that deserve more attention - similar to this that communities should consider implementing in order to save lives.
PUTTING A STOP TO STUNTING
At two years old, one might picture a chubby cheeked, wide eyed, smiling little baby. At twelve years old, one might picture the awkward transition phase into middle school where braces and glasses are the social norm.
After reading more about the topic of malnutrition, I’ve realized this is not always the case. When Bill Gates first started traveling to Africa for charity purposes, he would often meet children in the villages who he was visiting and try to guess their ages. He was shocked to find out how often he guessed wrong. Kids appeared to be 7 or 8 years old based on how tall they were – but they would proceed to tell him that they were actually 12 or 13 years old.
What he was witnessing was the terrible impact of malnutrition in Africa. These children were suffering from a condition known as stunting. This does not mean starvation, but it does imply that the body is not getting enough to eat, leaving the person years behind in his or her development.
Almost every article that I have read draws light upon “stunting” and the damage it imposes on people across the globe. Stunting not only affects a child’s height, but it also has an impact on brain development. Stunted children are more likely to fall behind at school, miss key milestones in reading and math, and go on to live in poverty. When stunted children don’t reach their potential, neither do their countries. Malnutrition saps a country’s strength, lowering productivity and keeping the entire nation trapped in poverty.
Worldwide, one in four children is stunted. Three-quarters of them live in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. However, while stunting has declined by more than a third in South Asia since 1990, in sub-Saharan Africa, the number of stunted children is still on the rise, up 12 million since 1990 to 56 million. Forty percent of all children in sub-Saharan Africa are stunted.
This global crisis sparked a fire in Bill Gates's heart, which caused him and his wife to draw awareness to Africa. As they have grown aware of the scale of this challenge, they’ve made improving nutrition a bigger priority for their foundation. The greatest obstacle that remains is the complexity of of the concept. There’s no vaccine to prevent stunting. Proper nutrition involves eating enough food, and the right kinds, every day of your life. While the global health community is still working to understand all of the causes and solutions to malnutrition, health care providers and government officials do not know much regarding how to ensure children get the nutrition they need for a healthy start to life (Gates Foundation).
There is a great deal of research to do in this area and there will continue to be progress made. But what’s not in doubt is the importance of giving all children the nutrition they need for a healthy start to life. Their future depends on it; And specifically, so does Africa’s!
After reading more about the topic of malnutrition, I’ve realized this is not always the case. When Bill Gates first started traveling to Africa for charity purposes, he would often meet children in the villages who he was visiting and try to guess their ages. He was shocked to find out how often he guessed wrong. Kids appeared to be 7 or 8 years old based on how tall they were – but they would proceed to tell him that they were actually 12 or 13 years old.
What he was witnessing was the terrible impact of malnutrition in Africa. These children were suffering from a condition known as stunting. This does not mean starvation, but it does imply that the body is not getting enough to eat, leaving the person years behind in his or her development.
Almost every article that I have read draws light upon “stunting” and the damage it imposes on people across the globe. Stunting not only affects a child’s height, but it also has an impact on brain development. Stunted children are more likely to fall behind at school, miss key milestones in reading and math, and go on to live in poverty. When stunted children don’t reach their potential, neither do their countries. Malnutrition saps a country’s strength, lowering productivity and keeping the entire nation trapped in poverty.
Worldwide, one in four children is stunted. Three-quarters of them live in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. However, while stunting has declined by more than a third in South Asia since 1990, in sub-Saharan Africa, the number of stunted children is still on the rise, up 12 million since 1990 to 56 million. Forty percent of all children in sub-Saharan Africa are stunted.
This global crisis sparked a fire in Bill Gates's heart, which caused him and his wife to draw awareness to Africa. As they have grown aware of the scale of this challenge, they’ve made improving nutrition a bigger priority for their foundation. The greatest obstacle that remains is the complexity of of the concept. There’s no vaccine to prevent stunting. Proper nutrition involves eating enough food, and the right kinds, every day of your life. While the global health community is still working to understand all of the causes and solutions to malnutrition, health care providers and government officials do not know much regarding how to ensure children get the nutrition they need for a healthy start to life (Gates Foundation).
There is a great deal of research to do in this area and there will continue to be progress made. But what’s not in doubt is the importance of giving all children the nutrition they need for a healthy start to life. Their future depends on it; And specifically, so does Africa’s!
bizunesh and the reality of hunger
Breakfast, lunch, dinner. REPEAT! (and you could seemingly throw a few snacks into that mix as well).. It can be assumed that almost every person reading this blog post right now is blessed with the privilege to consume at least two to three meals a day. However, this is not always the case -
“You don’t plan for the future because you’re not thinking about tomorrow—you are hungry that day and wondering where food is going to come from,” says the mother of the three year old child in the photo below. I read a story about this little girl, named Bizunesh, while researching for my proposal.
Bizunesh weighs less than 10 pounds. Her long limbs, weak and folded like a praying mantis, cannot carry even her slight weight. She cannot speak. She doesn't want to eat. Health officials say she is permanently stunted. Bizunesh is one of untold numbers of children hit by this year's blow of a countrywide drought and skyrocketing global food prices that has brought famine, once again, to Ethiopia. It's not known how many children have died or are starving now. Local and international aid and health workers say between 10 and nearly 20 percent of Ethiopia's children are malnourished — 15 percent is considered a critical situation. And in 2006, Ethiopia had 13.4 million children under age 5, according to UNICEF.
Many people, initially including myself, believe that the lack of economic development in these third world countries is the main reason as to why their people are starving. But I have found that this is simply not the case. After conducting research for several weeks and digging through a multitude of articles, it is apparent to me that the main reasons for a lack of food supply are war and unfair distribution. Civil disputes affect food security in developing countries due their detrimental effects on the agricultural sector and on the economy as a whole. If there is war occurring directly outside the front doors of families such as Bizunesh’s, then those people are ultimately trapped and unable to access the necessities that we could not imagine living without.
The concept of war limiting food supply is one that I never would have thought much about before I started researching, which is why will be focusing my proposal, and eventually thesis, on this idea. I hope to bring awareness to this global crisis in hopes to better educate those reading and possibly come up with an idea to better provide aid to these regions.
Chronic malnutrition can affect the citizens of these third world countries for life: stunting their growth, brain development, and immune systems, which leaves them vulnerable to a host of illnesses. I cannot begin to imagine the pain that Bizunesh’s mother must feel when watching her child struggle on a daily basis, and I hope that better informing myself on the topic will one day allow me to make a difference in the lives of other children in her similar situation.
“You don’t plan for the future because you’re not thinking about tomorrow—you are hungry that day and wondering where food is going to come from,” says the mother of the three year old child in the photo below. I read a story about this little girl, named Bizunesh, while researching for my proposal.
Bizunesh weighs less than 10 pounds. Her long limbs, weak and folded like a praying mantis, cannot carry even her slight weight. She cannot speak. She doesn't want to eat. Health officials say she is permanently stunted. Bizunesh is one of untold numbers of children hit by this year's blow of a countrywide drought and skyrocketing global food prices that has brought famine, once again, to Ethiopia. It's not known how many children have died or are starving now. Local and international aid and health workers say between 10 and nearly 20 percent of Ethiopia's children are malnourished — 15 percent is considered a critical situation. And in 2006, Ethiopia had 13.4 million children under age 5, according to UNICEF.
Many people, initially including myself, believe that the lack of economic development in these third world countries is the main reason as to why their people are starving. But I have found that this is simply not the case. After conducting research for several weeks and digging through a multitude of articles, it is apparent to me that the main reasons for a lack of food supply are war and unfair distribution. Civil disputes affect food security in developing countries due their detrimental effects on the agricultural sector and on the economy as a whole. If there is war occurring directly outside the front doors of families such as Bizunesh’s, then those people are ultimately trapped and unable to access the necessities that we could not imagine living without.
The concept of war limiting food supply is one that I never would have thought much about before I started researching, which is why will be focusing my proposal, and eventually thesis, on this idea. I hope to bring awareness to this global crisis in hopes to better educate those reading and possibly come up with an idea to better provide aid to these regions.
Chronic malnutrition can affect the citizens of these third world countries for life: stunting their growth, brain development, and immune systems, which leaves them vulnerable to a host of illnesses. I cannot begin to imagine the pain that Bizunesh’s mother must feel when watching her child struggle on a daily basis, and I hope that better informing myself on the topic will one day allow me to make a difference in the lives of other children in her similar situation.
PURSUING A PASSION
The dreaded research paper… Previous seniors have grumbled over this thirty page assignment for as long as I can remember. And to be honest, the concept most definitely sounded intimidating. When Ms. Aeschliman began to explain the expectations to the class on the very first day back to school after winter break, my mind was a muddled mess. As we went over the guidelines, I thought to myself, “Thirty pages?? About what?” The writing process that she discussed seemed quite elaborate and I was truly unsure of where to begin. But after reading our textbook and listening to her talk about potential topics, I quickly realized that as long as I chose a passion I could ultimately write a novel with ease.
PASSION! EMOTION! INFATUATION! ENTHUSIASM! These are qualities that we all possess. There is at least one issue or concept in this world that tugs on the microscopic heart strings of every person, whether they’re aware of it or not. As college is approaching, the notion of choosing a career path has become even more significant and often times heavy. But after a great deal of thought and a few tears on occasion, I’ve realized that if I am doing something that I love then I will undoubtedly be happy. After all, “if you do what you love you will never work a day in your life!”
As I dive into this beast of a research paper, I am working to maintain the same mindset. Like a career, I cannot yet pinpoint exactly what it is that I want to write about. I have thought about a variety of different fields, but I have come to realize that they are all related to helping others. MY PASSION! There are an immense amount of people who lack the resources that I am blessed with, and I would love to be able to help provide equal opportunity across the world. I want to do something meaningful with my life that truly benefits those in need; same with my writing.
Topics such as malnutrition, international adoption, poverty, or even the water crisis in Cape Town all tug at my heart. They are social issues that I feel need to be addressed due to simple human rights as well as potential misunderstanding and/or the teaching of false information. So, pretty simple. I had my research topic down and I was ready to start the daunting writing process. However, shortly after conquering task one, I realized there was much more to consider.
Our textbook explained the importance of the second step: narrowing your topic down to a specific question. Step two, along with choosing a specific career, are both tasks that I will soon have to face.
PASSION! EMOTION! INFATUATION! ENTHUSIASM! These are qualities that we all possess. There is at least one issue or concept in this world that tugs on the microscopic heart strings of every person, whether they’re aware of it or not. As college is approaching, the notion of choosing a career path has become even more significant and often times heavy. But after a great deal of thought and a few tears on occasion, I’ve realized that if I am doing something that I love then I will undoubtedly be happy. After all, “if you do what you love you will never work a day in your life!”
As I dive into this beast of a research paper, I am working to maintain the same mindset. Like a career, I cannot yet pinpoint exactly what it is that I want to write about. I have thought about a variety of different fields, but I have come to realize that they are all related to helping others. MY PASSION! There are an immense amount of people who lack the resources that I am blessed with, and I would love to be able to help provide equal opportunity across the world. I want to do something meaningful with my life that truly benefits those in need; same with my writing.
Topics such as malnutrition, international adoption, poverty, or even the water crisis in Cape Town all tug at my heart. They are social issues that I feel need to be addressed due to simple human rights as well as potential misunderstanding and/or the teaching of false information. So, pretty simple. I had my research topic down and I was ready to start the daunting writing process. However, shortly after conquering task one, I realized there was much more to consider.
Our textbook explained the importance of the second step: narrowing your topic down to a specific question. Step two, along with choosing a specific career, are both tasks that I will soon have to face.