The Importance of Proper Nutrition

The public health issue that affects children that is most meaningful to me is nutrition and malnutrition. I believe that we take for granted that all children are provided with proper nutrition, which isn’t the case. The country I chose was India to report on malnutrition.

India’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) needs to undergo significant changes to address the current malnutrition crisis in India, according to a World Bank report. The prevalence of underweight children in India is among the highest in the world, and is nearly double that of Sub-Saharan Africa, the report says. It also observes that malnutrition in India is a concentrated phenomenon. A relatively small number of states, districts, and villages account for a large share of the burden – 5 states and 50 percent of villages account for about 80 percent of the malnutrition cases (The World Bank, 2005).

This has become a personal topic for me since I adopted a severely malnourished infant from India over a decade ago. It seems that in India malnutrition is prevalent in the poorer areas and many of the non private orphanages. Even if there is knowledge about proper nutrition, there may not be enough food for all the people who need it. I found this to be the case with my adopted daughter. She came to us from India at thirteen and three quarters months of age weighing just thirteen pounds. She came with a bevy of problems that I won’t go into now, but proper nutrition played a big part in allowing her to reach the milestones she was behind in. When she arrived she was very weak and her normally sleek, straight, dark brown hair was red, course and a bit kinky. It looked very over treated by chemicals, but it was the malnutrition causing it.

I feel lucky that I work at a school where nutrition is a top priority. They are very conscious to serve a balanced, organic menu. I will be aware of the effects of malnutrition and what to look for if I find myself working in a different place eventually.

Reference

The World Bank. (2005, August). India's Undernourished Children: A Call for Reform and Action. Retrieved from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/SOUTHASIAEXT/Resources/223546-1147272668285/IndiaUndernourishedChildrenFinal.pdf