Malnutrition In Kenya Essay

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Malnutrition is a universal problem that affects myriads of people, especially children. More than 150 million children of pre-school age in the world are underweight and 200 million have stunted growth. In addition, one out of four babies born in developing countries has intrauterine growth retardation and is at risk of mental impairment (Brown, 2000, p. 1). The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands states in its Sectoral and Theme Policy Document of Development Cooperation that “the contribution of malnutrition – even moderate malnutrition – to child mortality is high: 56.0% of all deaths amongst children are associated with malnutrition”(Randstad 1998, p. 7). Sub-Saharan Africa is not excludedfrom the urgent public health problem of malnutrition and governments and private institutions need to act to ensure that the region is productive and self-reliant. The importance of…show more content…
Prevalence of child malnutrition in Kenya is high with stunting (29.6%), wasting (5.8%) and underweight (20.3%) among children under-five years old. The situation is worse in Northeastern Kenya where prevalence of malnutrition among children under five is much higher at 35.2% stunting, underweight at 24.5% and wasting at 19.5% (KDHS, 2008/09).Although the causes of malnutrition can be broadly categorized into immediate causes (insufficient diet, poor breastfeeding practices, early weaning, food taboos and personal choices related to diet), underlying causes (house hold food security, inadequate children care, women low education/ information levels, unhealthy environments, social and religious norms, gender equity and maternal access to education) and basic causes (poor availability and control of resources i.e. political, social, ideological and economic) (UNICEF, 2004), they differ from one area to
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