MALNUTRITION
Malnutrition may be due to people not taking enough food or taking too much food and not in the right proportion.
In the underdeveloped nations, malnutrition takes many forms:
Malnutrition may be due to people not taking enough food or taking too much food and not in the right proportion.
In the underdeveloped nations, malnutrition takes many forms:
- Starvation leading to marasmus (lack of energy food and protein) and kwashiorkor (lack of protein).
- Eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia.
- Overweight and obesity due to too much consumption of saturated fats.
- Constipation (not enough dietary fibres in the diet)
WHY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE SUFFERING FROM MALNUTRITION?
There is no simple answer to this question as there are many factors which can combine to create the problem. Some of these are:
There is no simple answer to this question as there are many factors which can combine to create the problem. Some of these are:
- OVERPOPULATION - The population of many countries has been rising faster than food production.
- FAMINE - Famine is an extreme shortage of food. Industrialised nations have agricultural surplus due to their advances in technology and their high yielding crops. This results in an unequal distribution of food. The farmers of industrialised nations expect a return for their labour in producing surplus food. They sell the surplus food to the highest bidder - the industrialised consumer countries. underdeveloped and developing countries with no means to pay fo the expensive food face famine when their food production is insufficient.
- FLOODS - Floods may occur when rivers overflow their banks. Heavy rainfalls during monsoon season, tidal waves and collapsed dams, all cause widespread destruction of the agricultural land and the crops themselves. Farm lands destroyed by tidal waves are no longer suitable for farming.
- DROUGHT - This brings about extreme crop damage and the destruction of farm animals. Severe climatic changes have also contributed to a world wide shortage of food.
- POOR SOIL - To grow good crops, the soil has to contain nutrients. If the same soil is used year after year, the nutrients are all gradually removed, leaving the soil unable to support life.
- PESTS - A single locust swarm contain millions of insect which can eat in one day an amount of food which would feed hundreds of people for a year.
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO OVERCOME PROBLEMS OF WORLD FOOD SUPPLIES?
- Enhanced food yields can be obtained using new strains of wheat, maize and rice - called the green revolution.
- Farming the sea by culturing fish, lobsters, prawns and crabs has been done successfully. Seaweed and algae could be grown and harvested for food as well.
- Genetically modified food has shown promising results in food production. Plants and animals have had their genes altered to improve quality. Genetically modified food is being hailed as the potential solution to a growing world population and dwindling food supplies.
- Improve the distribution of food from countries with surplus to overpopulated third world countries. This has been successfully implemented bu the World Red Cross organisation. Surplus wheat from USA has been distributed to famine stricken nations.
- Developing farming technology has been effective in improving the output from farms. Modern day farm machinery and the use of fertilisers has helped farmers increase output.
- By enriching food, most basic foods such as bread have nutrients added to them to improve the quality of food and help prevent malnutrition. Vitamins and minerals are added to benefit the health of consumers.
- Using better methods of pest control could reduce the quantity of food lost during storage.
- Increasing the land under cultivation can increase food production. With modern technology, arid, semi-arid and deserts can be irrigated for farming.
