ENGL 1101 Introduction To English Literature

Malnutrition is an undernourishment condition that stems from eating disorders causing health issues. It is considered as a chronic illness that prohibits the individuals from absorbing nutrients. Malnutrition damages the vital organs and functions in a human body which is mostly seen in the case of poorer and developing countries. This essay shall provide a comparison and similarities between the malnourished people of developed and developing countries. The three areas that shall be covered in comparison and contrast are the causes of malnutrition, effects and government responses of malnutrition in developed and developing countries.

The first area of comparison and contrast is causes of malnutrition. In case of developing countries, economic factors come into role play where the income of the people is so low that they cannot afford to have a healthy diet. Moreover, the increasing population in countries like India and China also leads to malnutrition as they have poor drinking water facilities, conflicts and others (Sehgal, Dhooria, & Agarwal, 2017). Additionally, there is governance and policy failure where there is failure in achieving the desired targets by the government. It is noted that the developing countries suffer from diseases related to malnutrition like vitamin and iron deficiency that may cause rickets, anaemia and others (Yadavar, 2018). This is different from the case of developed countries like America which experience malnutrition. Even though the technology is advanced in the developing countries, not all are able to access a balanced diet. The developed countries may experience excess intake of nutrients that may result in allergic reactions, overdose of vitamin, over-calcification of bones and others. The causes of malnutrition in developed and developing nations may be different, but it leads down the same road of negative impact (Bush & Welsh, 2015).

Malnutrition has negative impacts on the society. There is a need to compare and contrast the political, economic and health impacts. The undernourished children have poor immune systems due to which they are susceptible to illness and infections. The health consequences are similar as seen in the case of developed nations (Holz et al., 2015). It is noted that malnutrition perpetuates poverty and economic growth. It leads to indirect loss for the nation due to reduced school attainment, creates an education gap and eventually affects the employment level. This is different from that of developed nations in which the income of countries like Europe and UK are lost in fighting nutrition. Significant costs are incurred in fighting the diseases caused due to malnutrition because of which there is substantial human costs and lifelong economic consequences (Venables & Raine, 2016). The similarity between the economic consequences of both developed and developing nations is that instead of investing in significant areas, both developed and developing nations have to spend on fixing chronic under-nutrition and nutrient deficiencies (Ibrahim et al., 2017). The political involvement in malnutrition is different in cases of developed and developing countries. The developing nations may not be able to implement national programs with ambitious policies (Venables & Raine, 2016). However, in the case of developed nations, political approach is easy to implement. As seen in the case of Madagascar, there are centres established to provide education on nutrition and supply appropriate food through an association based approach called Nutri’zaza (Gret, 2012). Be it the case of developed or developing nations, both the type of nations suffer from economic, health and social cost.

The government of both developed and developing nations are greatly aware of the problem of malnutrition and its negative impact. Therefore, they are taking initiatives in fixing the nourishment condition of the respective nations. The developing nations are taking initiatives to fix the nutrition system and overall health of the citizens. For example, India launched The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme in 1975 in which the programme helped in reaching childhood care and development (Pacsindia.org, 2018). Currently, the government undertakes Swatchh Bharat Mission where they are providing clean drinking water and constructing toilets to improve the standard of living among the citizens. Further, the government has taken steps for rice fortification to deal with the vitamin deficient women and children (Swachhbharaturban.in, 2018). Similarly, developed nations like America and Africa are implementing strategies like bio-fortification where food crops are grown that have ample amount of vitamin and minerals (Correia et al., 2014). The US Department of Agriculture help the countries in raising incomes so that they can afford healthy food. Since 2010, the nation aligned programs to ‘Feed the Future’ for supporting agricultural developments in Kenya, Africa, Central America and others (Usda.gov, 2018). Therefore, the government interventions are similar in case of developed and developing nations.

Conclusively, the malnutrition causes are different for developed and developing nations. However, the social, health and economic costs are same in case of both nations. Moreover, with increasing awareness, the government is taking initiatives to fix the malnutrition issue.

References

Bush, B., & Welsh, H. (2015). Hidden hunger: America’s growing malnutrition epidemic. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/10/nutrition-hunger-food-children-vitamins-us

Correia, M., Hegazi, R., Higashiguchi, T., Michel, J., Reddy, B., & Tappenden, K. et al. (2014). Evidence-Based Recommendations for Addressing Malnutrition in Health Care: An Updated Strategy From the feedM.E. Global Study Group. Journal Of The American Medical Directors Association, 15(8), 544-550. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2014.05.011

Gret. (2012). Nutri’zaza: A Social Business Combating Malnutrition in Madagascar - Gret. Retrieved from http://www.gret.org/2012/12/nutrizaza-a-social-business-combating-malnutrition-in-madagascar/?lang=en

Holz, N. E., Boecker, R., Hohm, E., Zohsel, K., Buchmann, A. F., Blomeyer, D., ... & Plichta, M. M. (2015). The long-term impact of early life poverty on orbitofrontal cortex volume in adulthood: results from a prospective study over 25 years. Neuropsychopharmacology, 40(4), 996.

Huffman, W. E., Huffman, S. K., Rickertsen, K., & Tegene, A. (2010, May). Over-nutrition and changing health status in high income countries. In Forum for Health Economics & Policy, 13(1). De Gruyter.

Ibrahim, M. K., Zambruni, M., Melby, C. L., & Melby, P. C. (2017). Impact of childhood malnutrition on host defense and infection. Clinical microbiology reviews, 30(4), 919-971.

Pacsindia.org. (2018). ICDS Scheme. Retrieved from http://www.pacsindia.org/projects/health-and-nutrition/icds-scheme

Sehgal, I. S., Dhooria, S., & Agarwal, R. (2017). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and malnutrition in developing countries. Current opinion in pulmonary medicine, 23(2), 139-148.

Swachhbharaturban.in. (2018). Swachh Bharat. Retrieved from http://www.swachhbharaturban.in/sbm/home/

Usda.gov. (2018). Food Security | USDA. Retrieved from https://www.usda.gov/topics/food-and-nutrition/food-security

Venables, P. H., & Raine, A. (2016). The impact of malnutrition on intelligence at 3 and 11 years of age: The mediating role of temperament. Developmental psychology, 52(2), 205.

Yadavar, S. (2018). One in four children in India's cities are malnourished, but poverty is not the only cause - Firstpost. Retrieved from https://www.firstpost.com/india/one-in-four-children-in-indias-cities-are-malnourished-but-poverty-is-not-the-only-cause-4341381.html

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