Malnutrition And Children : An Ugly Truth

Imagine holding a healthy baby in your arms. That baby, that little bundle of joy, will bring a lot of excitement and happiness, the moment you will hold it in your arms.

But....
What if the scenario is changed and that healthy baby is interchanged with a malnourished one. Trust me, that moment would be no less than a nightmare for you because even a sight at its face would be enough to make you tremble and you would do nothing but pity that poor child.

It is not a hypothetical situation. I have not woven a story here. It is the reality of our country. To be more precise, the dark reality of the world. The ugly face that has been constantly shunned away from light for many years.

Malnutrition refers to under nutrition where an individual (especially children below 5 years of age) is not getting enough calories, protein, or micronutrients.

Its symptoms are mainly stunted growth, swollen hands and feet and extremely low weight.

Malnutrition results in both short and long term irreversible negative health outcomes and the children suffering from severe malnutrition are very susceptible to various bacterial and fungal infection.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that malnutrition accounts for 54% of child mortality worldwide, which is about 1 million children.

According to WHO, childhood underweight is the cause for about 35% of all deaths of children under the age of five years worldwide.

Various factors that are responsible for Malnutrition among Children are:

• Inadequate Food Intake

• Living Conditions and Sanitation

• Social Inequality

• Maternal Factors

All the factors listed above are responsible for many diseases such as Kwashiorkor, Marasmus and protein deficiency among children.

The condition is even worse in tribal areas where more than half of the children population is suffering from malnutrition.

Whether it is the tribal forests of Orissa or the tribal communities in Kenya, the condition of children suffering from malnutrition is more or less similar in both the scenarios.

These conditions can be improved but it needs a lot of determination to help such children out there whose deficiency diseases are an outstanding example of the negligence that they are subjected to by various authorities whose sole purpose is the upliftment of this already ignored portion of population.

Such situations are not to be ignored.They are today's children and would become tomorrow's citizens.

A Strong nation needs a strong foundation.

Let's not discriminate with them. Being responsible citizens, it is our duty to help all those people out there in the hour of need. A selfless act of care and love, can change their lives.

It's your chance to be a Hero, to do something for your nation and spread smile on their faces.

Contribute your part, be a Hero in someone's life.