Population, nutrition and health
Bulletin of the Unesco Regional Office for Education in Asia and the Pacific 1982(23): 260-268
1982
PMID: 12265659 Document Number: 425866
The World Health Organization defines health as not only the absence of disease but as a more positive state of physical, mental, and social well-being. 1 of the most important influences on health is nutrition. Millions of people throughout the world either do not get enough to eat or do not get enough of the right kinds of food. Malnutrition is the biggest single contributor to child mortality in developing countries; malnourished children have an impaired ability to fight infection and disease. Children suffering protein-energy or protein-calorie malnutrition may develop nutritional deficiency diseases such as marasmus or kwashiorkor. Some estimates indicate that 2/3 of children in developing countries suffer from protein-calorie malnutrition. Some deficiency diseases caused by a lack of 1 or more nutrients are very widespread, such as anemia, endemic goiter, and xerophthalmia. Contributing factors for malnutrition may include low purchasing power of poor families, poor harvests due to crop failure, bad weather, food spoilage, pests, or a poor distribution system, or cultural practices that prevent the full utilization of available food resources. The decline in the incidence of breastfeeding in recent decades is a major factor in the malnutrition and ill health of children. The quality of nutrition affects the development of human beings in many ways that are sometimes overlooked, such as physical growth and intellectual development. In the long run, only economic development will eliminate malnutrition by eliminating its basic causes of food availability, poverty, ignorance, and overpopulation. Breastfeeding is an important nutritional source for infants and has a contraceptive value for mothers. Improved nutrition should have beneficial effects on the costs of providing education, health services, and housing. Improving the nutritional status of small children may increase their ability to withstand disease, resulting in the survival of greater numbers of children and indirectly exerting negative pressure on the birthrate as parents become more confident of their children's survival.