Proper nutrition is essential to have a happy, healthy life; however, millions of people around the world still suffer from malnutrition. High malnutrition level has a direct effect to the development issues and increase in poverty in regions like the Philippines. (Borgen, 2014) According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, due to the lack of nourishing food sources and nutrition education, hunger and malnutrition are still dominant in the Philippines. In fact, these problems have been linked with high rates of poverty in our country. Protein deficiency is the main reason why we have malnutrition problems. Protein deficiency causes children to be malnourished and suffer from stunted growth.
Another reason for malnutrition is the food price. As we have observed in the market, the rate for…show more content… (Schmidt, 2014)
Evidence shows that children who live without sufficient sanitation, hygiene, and clean drinking water do not grow as well as normal children do. Meanwhile, more than 626 million people regularly defecate on the ground outdoors, and this practice has been proposed as an important cause of stunting epidemic, which affected an estimated 48% of the country’s children as of 2005–2006.
With safe drinking water, proper sanitation, and hygiene this can prevent malnutrition and stunting in children, by preventing the development of environmental enteropathy and diarrheal disease. There is a reduction in diarrheal disease alone through safe WASH can prevent long-term morbidity. Children, who lives in households with proper sanitation and hygiene are taller for their age, or less stunted, compared to children living in contaminated environments and without proper sanitation. The most effective way for child growth and development are those that combine improved nutrition with prevention and control of intestinal infections. (Teague