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Beaven Dhliwayo Features Writer
A great number of children and adults are victims of malnutrition and their lives are deeply altered by its effects. Nutrition is the outcome of various processes from when food is eaten to absorption of nutrients in the body for better health outcomes.

Good nutrition results from eating adequate food in terms of quality, quantity, safety and absence of diseases, which cause poor absorption and utilisation of nutrients in the body.

In addition, good nutrition is essential for survival, growth, mental and physical development of human beings. Adequate nutrition is also crucial for enhancing immunity, hence, reducing morbidity and mortality.

Malnutrition on the other hand is a broad term commonly used as an alternative to under nutrition, but technically it also refers to over nutrition.

People are malnourished if their diet does not provide adequate nutrients and calories for growth and maintenance or they are unable to fully utilise the food they eat due to illness (under nutrition). They are also said to be malnourished if they consume too many nutrients and calories (over nutrition).

Child malnutrition is widespread and is limiting the future success of millions of children and their nations in third world countries. Globally under nutrition is estimated to cause 3,1 million child deaths annually or 45 percent of all child deaths.

Nutritionist, Kuda Zombe said in Zimbabwe major nutrition problems relate mainly to undernourishment with nearly one in four children under the age of five years experiencing episodes of persistent under nutrition during pregnancy or before they reach two years.

“Of the children between 6-59 months — 21 percent suffer from shortage of vitamin A, 72 percent do not have adequate iron in their bodies and 32 percent suffer from anaemia.

“This situation needs to be changed because of its consequences on the general populace and country’s growth. Lack of proper nutrition diminishes the physical and intellectual capabilities of children.

“It affects their levels of productivity in adulthood and can have far-reaching consequences on a country’s development and economic growth. The damage done by malnutrition between a woman’s pregnancy and her child’s second birthday translates into huge economic burden running into billions in lost productivity and avoidable healthcare cost globally,” he said.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), nutrition is an input to and foundation for health and development.

“Better nutrition means stronger immune systems, less illnesses and better health. Healthy children learn better. Healthy people are stronger, are more productive and more able to create opportunities to gradually break the cycles of both poverty and hunger in a sustainable way. Better nutrition is a prime entry point to ending poverty and a milestone to achieving better quality of life.

“Malnutrition early in life can cause irreversible damage to children’s brain development and their physical growth, leading to a diminished capacity to learn, poorer performance in school, greater susceptibility to infection and diseases and a lifetime of lost earning potential,” says WHO.

Freedom from hunger and malnutrition is a basic human right and their alleviation is a fundamental prerequisite for human and national development.

WHO has traditionally focused on the vast magnitude of the many forms of nutritional deficiency, along with their associated mortality and morbidity in infants, young children and mothers.

However, the world is also seeing a dramatic increase in other forms of malnutrition characterised by obesity and the long-term implications of unbalanced dietary and lifestyle practices that result in chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.

All forms of malnutrition’s broad spectrum are associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and economic costs, particularly in countries where both under and over nutrition co-exist as is the case in developing countries undergoing rapid transition in nutrition and lifestyle, according to WHO.

Zombe added that improving nutrition for mothers and children during the 1 000-day window that is from pregnancy until a child is two years old helps ensure children get the best start to life and the opportunity to reach their full potential.

“Good nutrition for children impacts everyone. It fuels not just children and their futures, but also our economies. As children grow stronger and healthier, so do communities and countries, thus, ending the cycle of poverty. Investing in good nutrition not only averts future spending on healthcare, it can also increase productivity for an entire country.

“Good nutrition lies at the heart of economic development and is the key to reducing inequality and eliminating poverty for everyone, everywhere, in every country,” he said.

Health experts agree that improving nutrition during the first 1 000 days after conception is recognised as being one of the best and most cost-effective investments that can be made to achieve lasting progress in global health and development.

Investing in good nutrition now averts future spending on healthcare for households and for countries, since well-nourished children suffer from fewer episodes of sickness.

The failure to provide children with adequate nutrition in the first 1 000 days after conception throws away human potential that can never be recovered, costing countries billions of dollars every year in lost productivity and holding back economic development that affects everyone.

Undernourished mothers are more likely to have undernourished babies, perpetuating a cycle of poverty that is passed down across generations.