Nutrition Under Nutrition

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1. INTRODUCTION 1.1Back ground Information Malnutrition is the problem due to lack of food and excess intake of food i.e. under nutrition and over nutrition. Under nutrition is defined as inadequate intake of protein, energy, and micronutrients such as vitamins etc. Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life(1). Household food security is the application of this concept to the family level, with individuals within households as the focus of concern. Food insecurity exists when people do not have adequate physical, social or economic access to food as defined above (1).…show more content…
It has both short and long term consequences (4). For instance, undernourished children are physically, emotionally and intellectually less productive and suffer more from chronic illnesses and disabilities than well nourished children (5). Although Ethiopia has already achieved a remarkable progress in reducing under-five mortality in the last decades, under nutrition among children is still a common problem in the country with high burden of under nutrition (6). Under nutrition can best be described in the country as a long term year round phenomenon due to chronic inadequacies in food combined with high levels of illness in under-five children. It is the underlying cause of 57 % of child deaths (7). Under nutrition is currently the most wide spread and serious health problem of children. So that special attention should be given to the preschool age children in all…show more content…
The risk factors for under-nutrition are categorized under three basic pillars. These are immediate causes (inadequate intake and disease), underlying causes (house hold food security, maternal and child care and hygiene and sanitation) and basic causes (lack of food, access to health facilities, low-income, drought, low agricultural productivity, political instability, etc

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