Ifenna Ekwowusi
1 March 2007
Abuja — Nutrition is an input to and foundation for health and development. Interaction of infection and malnutrition is well-documented. Better nutrition means stronger immune systems, less illness and better health. Healthy children learn better. Healthy people are stronger, more productive and more able to create opportunities to gradually break the cycles of both poverty and hunger in a sustainable way. Better nutrition is a prime entry point to ending poverty and a milestone to achieving better quality of life. Freedom from hunger and malnutrition is a basic human right and their alleviation is a fundamental prerequisite for human and national development. The World Health Organization (WHO) has traditionally focused on the vast magnitude of the many forms of nutritional deficiency, along with their associated mortality and morbidity in infants, young children and mothers.
However, the world is also seeing a dramatic increase in other forms of malnutrition characterized by obesity and the long-term implications of unbalanced dietary and lifestyle practices that result in chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. All forms of malnutrition's broad spectrum are associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and economic costs, particularly in countries where both under nutrition and over nutrition co-exist as is the case in developing countries undergoing rapid transition in nutrition and life-style. The World Health Organization (WHO) has described health as a state of complete physical mental and social well-being and not necessary with the absence of disease or infirmity.
Our bodies will react to the lifestyles we adopt. The way people live, their habits and behaviours can affect health either positively or negatively. For example, the Nigerian Health Ministry has consistently warned Nigerians to desist from eating food stuffs containing potassium bromate as this causes cancerous growth and other hazardous ailments. It also pointed out that this symptomatic effects don't usually appear immediately after consumption, but rather, they tend to accumulate in the body until it gets to a period in which it eventually begins to manifest in the body. But people often choose to ignore this warning.It is really a sad case that people take this warnings for granted. As I write, it beggars belief to know that a number of food stuffs containing potassium bromate especially bread are still being consumed by a large number of people out of ignorance and at the end of the day what do we have? A high rate of ailing Patients and consequently a high rate of needless deaths. Where human lives are concerned, no compromise is acceptable.
Consequently, it is strongly advisable that we eat the right food which contains a balanced diet and also we shouldn't just eat for eating sake, but with the aim to remain healthy and improve the immune system. Over-indulgence in food predisposes to obesity and under-indulgence also predisposes to malnutrition. Overeating should be avoided; excesses are stored in the body and can cause food intoxication. Ingestion of too much carbohydrate and refined sugars will predispose to disease conditions such as Dental Caries, Atherosclerosis, Obesity, Increased growth of cancerous tumors and diabetes.
Likewise, ingestion of foods with too many fats will predispose to obesity and coronary or ischemic heart disease. At the other end of the scale, certain foods are very advantageous and wholesome to the body and people are encouraged to consume such foods. For instance, foods with high fibre contents like wheat, vegetables, beans, fruits and so on. These increase the water building capacity of the colonic contents and bulk of faeces. This will relieve constipation, reduce haemorrhoids and may reduce cancer of the colon. Also fatty acids of fish oil contain polyunsaturated fatty acids which will inhibit thrombosis, and prevent conditions like stroke and heart attacks. Examples of such fishes are mackerel, herring, sardines and tuna. Proper nutrition and exercise help in maintaining a good health. The level of physical inactivity in many adult Nigerians is a matter of public health concern, especially among those with sedentary jobs. Keeping active is essential for preventing disease and promoting health. There is now abundant evidence in adult life of the protective effect of regular physical activity.
Based on incisive analysis, it is incontrovertibly right that people who maintain appropriate body fitness have the benefit of prolonged life, and for those between fifty and seventy years, mortality is three times less in the very fit than in the least fit. For the exercise to be beneficial there has to be high energy expenditure types like brisk walking, jogging, cycling, playing football and so on. Malnutrition in a sense, has shrunk the world. The mortality rate due to malnutrition represents a humanitarian catastrophe of enormous proportions. It contributes to one out of two deaths (53%) associated with infectious diseases among children aged under five in developing countries. One out of two children in Africa with severe malnutrition dies during hospital treatment due to inappropriate care. One out of four preschool children suffers from undernutrition, which can severely affect a child's mental and physical development. Undernutrition among pregnant women in developing countries leads to one out of six infants born with low birth weight. This is not only a risk factor for neonatal deaths, but also causes learning disabilities, mental, retardation, poor health, blindness and premature death.
Inappropriate feeding of infants and young children are responsible for one third of the cases of malnutrition. One out of three people in developing countries are affected by vitamin and mineral deficiencies and therefore more subject to infection, birth defects and impaired physical and psycho-intellectual development. Zinc deficiencies: magnitude unknown but likely to prevail in deprived populations; associated with growth retardation, diarrhoea and immune deficiency. Forty million people living with HIV/AIDS are exposed to an increased risk of food insecurity and malnutrition, especially in poor settings, which may further aggravate their situation. But this is just one side of the problem.
Two out of three overweight and obese people now live in developing countries, the vast majority in emerging markets and transition economies. By 2010, more obese people will live in developing countries than in the developed world. Undernutrition and overnutrition problems and diet-related chronic diseases account for more than half of the world's disease and hundreds of millions of dollars in public expenditure. Infant and under five mortality rates in Nigeria are among the highest in the world at 100 and 201 per 1000 live births respectively. Nigeria and five other countries contribute 50% of the annual global mortality in children less than five years of age. Most of these deaths are due to malaria, pneumonia, measles, diarrhoea and HIV/AIDS with malnutrition underlying about 60% of the deaths.
Significant proportion of these deaths continues to occur at home due to poor family and community practices. Adolescents are exposed to multiple risks and opportunities. Up to 70% of premature adult mortality has its roots in the adolescent period. About 60% of abortion complications and deaths are from this age group in Nigeria . In addition, prevalence of HIV and STI is highest in the 15 - 24 years of age group. Adolescents lack information about sexuality. Adolescents need safe and supportive environment to develop their full potential. The question arises as to what can be done to salvage Nigeria from the hazardous effects of malnutrition at both child and adult levels. The way forward, in my opinion, is to admit that Nigeria has a malnutrition burden, assess it and set out to control and reduce the burden. Proper nutrition, being a public health approach aimed at reducing the burden of malnutrition in a population, must be taken seriously by the government. Enough of inadequate information and improper planning.
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