Severe Acute Malnutrition

Malnutrition In The Philippines – How Will World Health Organization Deal With It? When you say malnutrition, it just means bad nutrition. Everyone who has bad nutrition usually does not have nutrients that a healthy body has. Poverty is the main cause if malnutrition because people are not able to eat the right kind of food they need. Lack of money means lack of food and lack of food can lead to malnutrition. Kids are usually the ones being affected by this condition, especially here in the Philippines. Some may just shrug off shoulders in this case but malnutrition is a serious national problem that should be solved in the nearest possible time. This condition can lead to death. But the big question is, how would WHO deal with this problem? WHO together with the Department of Health, conducts a monthly “Operation Timbang” among the places that has a high rate of malnutrition cases. After weighing, kids 0 to 10 years old will participate in growth-monitoring program and supplementary feeding. The World Health Organization will make sure that various objectives will be attained like the following; To provide an estimate of the nutritional requirements of children with moderate malnutrition, examining wasted and stunted children separately.

To formulate recommendations to improve the dietary management of moderate malnutrition. Recommendations for feeding children with moderate malnutrition for the Codex Almentarius working group developing standards of food products for underweight children. Currently, with the continuous help of the government and WHO, malnutrition cases decreased and this gave a positive effect to most of the children who participated in the program. Children can now have a full life without having to suffer from hunger and various diseases. Feeding them and giving them what they need is truly an important thing that everyone should. Parents must take the responsibility of providing them good food for their children’s well-being. The WHO is already giving its share in eliminating malnutrition but people should also know that not everything can be asked for. A parent should know that feeding his or her child is a responsibility that should not be neglected. Keep in mind that in order to have a healthy body, people, especially kids, must eat good food. Everyone deserves to eat more than three times a day, everyone deserves to have a fuller life. Support WHO’s advocate by doing your own unique way of helping those who need assistance!

Malnutrition is a general term for a medical condition caused by an improper or inadequate diet and nutrition. The Philippines ranks second to the African average in terms of malnutrition, and first in the Asia-Pacific region. United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) studies show 29% of African children are malnourished, while Filipino kids follow closely at 27%. For those who have seen Africa and its poor community, you would never imagine how come we became almost like them in a short span of time. Studies show that the number one cause of malnutrition in our country is poverty. I think that the main cause of poverty is overpopulation. The rich people are the ones who have only one to three kids, while the poorer ones have more than five, and the worst, more than ten. The rich families, who can afford to rise up many children, are the ones who know family planning. But the poor families, who must be the one educated and thought of family planning, are the ones who are irresponsible in having children which they could not afford rising up. Come to think of it, if poor families know family planning, maybe there is a chance that the malnutrition rate in the country will decrease, and that pitiful children would have the right to grow up healthy. Being educated about family planning would decrease cases of poverty and malnutrition.

Malnutrition has 6 main causes. These are poverty, improper health care, pre-existing health conditions, natural disasters, wars and addiction to drugs. Poverty is very rampant in our country. This is very visible in our country especially in the slums where people are poor and cannot afford to eat three meals a day. This leads to hunger which is considered to be the main cause of malnutrition. Malnutrition however, is not confined to poor intake of essential nutrients our body needs but it also includes excess intake of food. Another main cause of malnutrition is the improper health care implemented in the country. The Philippines lacks the manpower to sustain a healthy and clean place for living in the country. Which leads us to having unsafe water and poor sanitation. The third main cause of malnutrition are conditions that disables a person from taking in certain substances that are essential to the human body.

Some examples of these conditions are lactose intolerance, which is the inability to digest dairy products, cystic fibrosis, which is a disease that stops the pancreas from producing enzymes that aids in digestion and lastly, Celiac disease which is an intestinal disease triggered by gluten. hindi na didigest ung pagkain/hindi nkukuha ung nutrients ng food.(hindi enough ung nkukuhang nutrients.) Natural disasters and wars are also considered as one of the main causes of malnutrition. Natural disasters destroy vast amounts of food supply and deplete the country of enough food for the population. Wars on the other hand, usually involve forcibly taking food from nearby residents affected by wars especially in Mindanao where the Philippine army is in constantly engaging the MILF. Lastly, addiction to drugs is another cause of malnutrition in the country. People who have become dependent on drugs would usually deprive themselves of proper nutrition since they experience reduced sense of hunger.

Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess (too high an intake), or in the wrong proportions.[1][2] A number of different nutrition disorders may arise, depending on which nutrients are under or overabundant in the diet. In most of the world, malnutrition is present in the form of undernutrition, which is caused by a diet lacking adequate calories and protein.[3][4] While malnutrition is more common in developing countries, it is also present in industrialized countries. In wealthier nations it is more likely to be caused by unhealthy diets with excess energy, fats, and refined carbohydrates. A growing trend of obesity is now a major public health concern in lower socio-economic levels and in developing countries as well.[5] The World Health Organization cites malnutrition as the greatest single threat to the world’s public health.[6] Improving nutrition is widely regarded as the most effective form of aid.[6][7] Nutrition-specific interventions, which address the immediate causes of undernutrition, have been proven to deliver among the best value for money of all development interventions.[8]

Emergency measures include providing deficient micronutrients through fortifiedsachet powders or directly through supplements.[9][10] WHO, UNICEF, and the UN World Food Programme recommend community management of severe acute malnutrition with ready-to-use therapeutic foods, which have been shown to cause weight gain in emergency settings.[11] The famine relief model increasingly used by aid groups calls for giving cash or cash vouchers to the hungry to pay local farmers instead of buying food from donor countries, often required by law, to prevent dumping from hurting local farmers.[12][13] Long term measures include fostering nutritionally dense agriculture by increasing yields, while making sure negative consequences affecting yields in the future are minimized.[14] Recent efforts include aid to farmers.[15]

However, World Bank strictures restrict government subsidies for farmers, while the spread of fertilizer[16] use may adversely affect ecosystems and human health[17] and is hampered by various civil society groups.[18] Malnutrition has shown to be an important concern in women, children, and the elderly. Because of pregnancies and breastfeeding, women have additional nutrient requirements.[19] Children can be at risk for malnutrition even before birth, as their nutrition levels are directly tied to the nutrition of their mothers.[20] Breastfeeding can reduce rates of malnutrition and mortality in children,[4][11] and educational programs for mothers could have a large impact on these rates.[21] The elderly have a large risk of malnutrition because of unique complications such as changes in appetite and energy level, and chewing and swallowing problems.[22] Adequate elderly care is essential for preventing malnutrition, especially when the elderly cannot care for themselves.

Poverty
Introduction:

This study is about the economic, political and socio- cultural conditions of the Urban Poor. Urban poor has become an interesting topic now days since it is very relevant to modern society. Poverty tends to be the greatest ill that plagues the Filipino as a society. The poor ranges from poor, very poor, and to the very, very poor. The topic URBAN POOR was selected from a group of topics given and then given emphasis by the author according to the relevance of this specific group in today’s world. Each condition is specifically analyzed in different aspects and parts to further understand the study. In doing so, one will be able to broaden one’s ideas and analysis in certain conditions in relation to the topic about Urban poor. This will also have an analysis of their general condition using a theory application- which most probably is CONFLICT THEORY, a theory discussed in class with relation to the Sociological Theories presented.

This paper was developed
as a requirement and further study of the Sociological Theories presented in class and as a meaningful output of all the lectures and discussions that happened during class. Analysis was done by choosing a theoretical orientation from the ones discussed in class. Students and professionals are the intended audiences of this study. This study will hopefully be of help in the development of concrete analysis and plans not just towards the Sociological development of the urban poor, but of the holistic development as well. The informations contained in this study were based on researches provided by related literature and on- line based sources, more of secondary sources. Sources related to the study are referred to the bibliography at the end of the study. Conclusions are from the author of the text, as a product of understanding from the related sources.