Percentage of population affected by malnutrition by country, according to United Nations statistics.

Malnutrition is a general term for a medical condition caused by an improper or insufficient diet. This article is primarily about the human diet For a discussion of animal diets see List of feeding behaviours. It most often refers to undernutrition resulting from inadequate consumption, poor absorption, or excessive loss of nutrients, but the term can also encompass overnutrition, resulting from overeating or excessive intake of specific nutrients. Overnutrition is a form of Malnutrition in which nutrients are oversupplied relative to the amounts required for normal growth development and Metabolism. An individual will experience malnutrition if the appropriate amount of, or quality of nutrients comprising a healthy diet are not consumed for an extended period of time. A nutrient is food or chemicals that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used in an organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment A healthy diet is one that is arrived at with the intent of improving or maintaining optimal Health. An extended period of malnutrition can result in starvation, disease, and infection. Starvation (also called inanition) is a severe reduction in Vitamin, Nutrient, and Energy intake and is the most extreme form of

Malnutrition is the lack of sufficient nutrients to maintain healthy bodily functions and is typically associated with extreme poverty in economically developing countries. Extreme poverty is the most severe state of Poverty. Many cannot meet basic needs for Food, Water, Shelter, Sanitation, and Health Developing countries are countries that haven't reached Western-style standards of democratic government free market economy industrialization social programs and human rights guaranties It is a common cause of reduced intelligence in parts of the world affected by famine. Mental retardation is a generalized triarchic disorder characterized by subaverage cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors with onset before the age A famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to any Faunal species which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional Malnutrition, Starvation ^[1] Malnutrition as the result of inappropriate dieting, overeating or the absence of a "balanced diet" is often observed in economically developed countries (eg. Dieting is the practice of ingesting food in a regulated fashion to achieve or maintain a controlled weight Overeating can refer either to eating too much at one time or to eating too much on average The term developed country, or advanced country, is used to categorize countries with developed Economies in which the tertiary and quaternary sectors as indicated by increasing levels of obesity). Obesity is a condition in which excess Body fat has accumulated to such an extent that health may be negatively affected

Most commonly, malnourished people either do not have enough calories in their diet, or are eating a diet that lacks protein, vitamins, or trace minerals. This article is about the unit of energy For its use in Nutrition and Food labelling regulations, see the article on Food energy. This article is primarily about the human diet For a discussion of animal diets see List of feeding behaviours. Proteins are large Organic compounds made of Amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by Peptide bonds between the Carboxyl A vitamin is an Organic compound required as a Nutrient in tiny amounts by an Organism. A mineral is a naturally occurring substance formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition a highly ordered atomic structure and specific Medical problems arising from malnutrition are commonly referred to as deficiency diseases. Many Diseases in humans are directly or indirectly caused by improper eating habits and Malnutrition. Scurvy is a well-known and now rare form of malnutrition, in which the victim is deficient in vitamin C. Scurvy (NLat scorbutus is a disease resulting from a deficiency of Vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of Collagen in humans Vitamin C or L-ascorbate is an Essential nutrient for a large number of higher primate species a small number of other Mammalian

Prisoners who died from the malnutrition in Gulag. The Gulag was the government agency that administered the penal labor camps of the Soviet Union. Painting by Nikolai Getman, provided by Jamestown Foundation

Common forms of malnutrition include protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) and micronutrient malnutrition. Nikolai Getman (Николай Гетман Микола Ґетьман an artist was born in 1917 in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and died at his home in Orel, The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington DC -based Think tank, whose stated mission is to "inform and educate" policy makers about events and trends which Dietary minerals are the Chemical elements required by living Organisms other than the four elements Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, and PEM refers to inadequate availability or absorption of energy and proteins in the body. Digestion is the breaking down of chemicals in the body into a form that can be absorbed In Physics and other Sciences energy (from the Greek grc ἐνέργεια - Energeia, "activity operation" from grc ἐνεργός Proteins are large Organic compounds made of Amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by Peptide bonds between the Carboxyl Micronutrient malnutrition refers to inadequate availability of some essential nutrients such as vitamins and trace elements that are required by the body in small quantities. Micronutrients are Nutrients needed for life in small quantities A vitamin is an Organic compound required as a Nutrient in tiny amounts by an Organism. A mineral is a naturally occurring substance formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition a highly ordered atomic structure and specific Micronutrient deficiencies lead to a variety of diseases and impair normal functioning of the body. Deficiency in micronutrients such as Vitamin A reduces the capacity of the body to resist diseases. Deficiency in iron, iodine and vitamin A is widely prevalent and represent a major public health challenge. Iron (ˈаɪɚn is a Chemical element with the symbol Fe (ferrum and Atomic number 26 Iodine (ˈaɪədaɪn ˈaɪədɪn or /ˈaɪədiːn/ from ιώδης iodes "violet" is a Chemical element that has the symbol I and Atomic Vitamin A refers to a family of similarly shaped molecules the Retinoids. Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease prolonging life and promoting health through the organised efforts and informed choices of society organisations An array of afflictions ranging from stunted growth, reduced intelligence and various cognitive abilities, reduced sociability, reduced leadership and assertiveness, reduced activity and energy, reduced muscle growth and strength, and poorer health overall are directly implicated to nutrient deficiencies. Also, another, although rare, effect of malnutrition is black spots appearing on the skin.

Hunger is the normal psychological response brought on by the physiological condition of needing food. Hunger is a feeling experienced usually followed by a desire to Eat. Hunger can also affect the mental state of a person, and is often used as a metonym for general undernourishment. In Rhetoric, metonymy (mɨˈtɒnɨmi is the use of a word for a concept or object associated with the concept/object originally denoted by the word

Politics

The orange ribbon—an awareness ribbon for malnutrition. Awareness ribbons are short pieces of Ribbon folded into a loop or representations of such which are used in the United States, Canada, Australia

As of 2008, malnutrition continues to be a worldwide problem, particularly in lesser developed countries. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Developing countries are countries that haven't reached Western-style standards of democratic government free market economy industrialization social programs and human rights guaranties According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, "850 million people worldwide were undernourished in 1999 to 2005, the most recent years for which figures are available" and the number of malnourished people has recently been increasing. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security An orange awareness ribbon is used to raise awareness of malnutrition in the world. Awareness ribbons are short pieces of Ribbon folded into a loop or representations of such which are used in the United States, Canada, Australia ^[2] The FAO calculates undernourishment by comparing the amount of food available in a country at national level with how many people live in the country.

Some environmentalists claim that the fundamental issue causing malnutrition is that the human population exceeds the Earth's carrying capacity;^[3] however, Food First raises the issue of food sovereignty and claims that every country (with the possible minor exceptions of some city-states) has sufficient agricultural capacity to feed its own people, but that the "free trade" economic order associated with such institutions as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank prevent this from happening. Overpopulation refers to a condition where an Organism 's numbers exceed the Carrying capacity of its Habitat. The supportable Population of an Organism, given the food habitat, water and other necessities available within an environment is known as the environment's Food First, also known as the Institute for Food and Development Policy, is a nonprofit organization based in Oakland California, USA. " Food sovereignty " is a term originally coined by members of Via Campesina in 1996 to refer to a policy framework advocated by a number of Farmers, Free trade is a system in which the trade of goods and services between or within countries flows unhindered by government-imposed restrictions The International Monetary Fund ( IMF) is an International organization that oversees the Global financial system by following the Macroeconomic The World Bank is an internationally supported Bank that provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries for development programs (e At the other end of the spectrum, the World Bank itself claims to be part of the solution to malnutrition, asserting that the best way for countries to succeed in breaking the cycle of poverty and malnutrition is to build export-led economies that will give them the financial means to buy foodstuffs on the world market.

Amartya Sen won a 1998 Nobel Prize in part for his work suggesting that famine is not typically the product of a lack of food; rather, famine may arise from problems in food distribution networks or from governmental policies in the developing world. Amartya Kumar Sen CH (Hon (অমর্ত্য কুমার সেন Ômorto Kumar Shen) (born 3 November 1933) is an Indian Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) The Nobel Prize (Nobelpriset (Nobelprisen is a Swedish prize established in the 1895 will of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel; it was first awarded in Peace, Literature A famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to any Faunal species which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional Malnutrition, Starvation

The politics of food trade and food security are often difficult to grasp. Many people believe that sending food aid to the poor of the world is a worthy idea, but that each country should produce its own food.

Countries that have become more open to international trade in recent years (e. g. China, Vietnam or Peru) have greatly reduced the prevalence of undernourishment as measured by the FAO (food energy consumption below acceptable minimum) or as measured by the World Health Organization by the percentage of children under five who are stunted, wasted or underweight. Countries that remained closed to external trade (e. g. North Korea) have not improved or have worsened their food situation. North Korea is the commonly used short form name for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (or DPRK) a State located in East Asia,

Some anti-globalization groups advocate "food sovereignty", stating that each country should be physically self sufficient in every food item consumed by their people; by this measure the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Belgium, and in fact almost all other countries in the world would be food insecure, and a desert nation like Saudi Arabia (with its current population) would not be viable as a country at all.

One policy adopted in recent decades to alleviate world malnutrition is food aid, i. e. the physical donation of food from rich to poor countries. From the rich donor countries' point of view, this is a suitable way to reduce excess supply created by domestic agricultural subsidies, stabilizing farm prices in rich countries, even if the cost of supplying the food to its final beneficiaries is often disproportionately high. An agricultural subsidy is a governmental Subsidy paid to Farmers and Agribusinesses to supplement their income manage the supply of agricultural Food aid may be provided for short-term emergencies (natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts and floods, or human-made like war and refugee flows) or in the form of a long-term program for an extended period. A natural disaster is the consequence of a Natural hazard (eg War is an international relations Dispute, characterized by organized Violence between National Military units From the viewpoint of recipient countries, the value of food-aid depends on the form it takes. Emergency food aid is welcome, though aid in cash may also be welcome because the food may often be purchased locally in zones not affected by the emergency, thus benefitting local farmers. Long-term foreign food aid has been criticized as discouraging local production and distorting markets. Sao Paulo Stock Exchangejpg|thumb| Virtual market arena where buyer and seller are not present and trade via intemediates and electronical information

In recent years many foods, such as Spirulina and peanut butter, have been developed or refined for mass-production in hopes of combatting malnutrition and its effects. Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground roasted Peanuts with or without added oil See IIMSAM and Plumpy'nut for more on these efforts. Plumpy'nut, also known as Plumpy, is a Peanut -based Food for use in Famine relief which was formulated in 1999 by André Briend

Statistics

Number of undernourished people (million) in 2001-2003, according to the FAO, the following countries had 5 million or more undernourished people [1]:

Note: This table measures "undernourishment", as defined by FAO, and represents the number of people consuming (on average for years 2001 to 2003) less than the minimum amount of food energy (measured in kilocalories per capita per day) necessary for the average person to stay in good health while performing light physical activity. It is a conservative indicator that does not takes into account the extra needs of people performing extrenous physical activity, nor seasonal variations in food consumption or other sources of variability such as inter-individual differences in energy requirements.

Malnutrition and undernourishment are cumulative or average situations, and not the work of a single day's food intake (or lack thereof). This table does not represent the number of people who "went to bed hungry today. "

The U. S. Department of Agriculture reported that in 2003, only 1 out of 200 U. S. households with children became so severely food insecure that any of the children went hungry even once during the year. A substantially larger proportion of these same households (3. 8 percent) had adult members who were hungry at least one day during the year because of their households' inability to afford enough food. [2]

Overweight vs undernourished

In 2006, Professor Popkin from the University of North Carolina, said there were now more overweight people across the world than undernourished people. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ( UNC, North Carolina, or simply Carolina) is a public, Coeducational Research ^[4] He told the International Association of Agricultural Economists the number of overweight people had topped one billion (of which 300 million are obese), compared with 800 million undernourished. Overweight is generally defined as having more body fat (adipose tissue than is optimally Healthy Being overweight is a common condition especially where Obesity is a condition in which excess Body fat has accumulated to such an extent that health may be negatively affected ^[5] He added this transition from a starving world to an obese one was accelerating.

Mortality due to malnutrition

According to Jean Ziegler (the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food for 2000 to March 2008), mortality due to malnutrition accounted for 58% of the total mortality in 2006: "In the world, approximately 62 millions people, all causes of death combined, die each year. In 2006, more than 36 millions died of hunger or diseases due to deficiencies in micronutrients"^[6].

Effects

An extended period of malnutrition can result in starvation or deficiency diseases such as scurvy. Starvation (also called inanition) is a severe reduction in Vitamin, Nutrient, and Energy intake and is the most extreme form of Many Diseases in humans are directly or indirectly caused by improper eating habits and Malnutrition. Scurvy (NLat scorbutus is a disease resulting from a deficiency of Vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of Collagen in humans Malnutrition increases the risk of infection and infectious disease; for example, it is a major risk factor in the onset of active tuberculosis. Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or T u' b' erculosis Bacillus --> is a common ^[7]

Malnutrition appears to increase activity and movement in many animals - for example an experiment on spiders showed increased activity and predation in starved spiders, resulting in larger weight gain. Spiders are Predatory Invertebrate Animals that have two body segments, eight legs no chewing mouth parts and no wings ^[8] This pattern is seen in many animals, including humans while sleeping. Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus ^[9] It even occurs in rats with their cerebral cortex or stomachs completely removed. Rats are various medium sized long-tailed Rodents of the superfamily Muroidea The cerebral cortex is a structure within the Brain that plays a key role in Memory, Attention, perceptual Awareness, Thought, ^[10] Increased activity on hamster wheels occurred when rats were deprived not only of food, but also water or B vitamins such as thiamine^[11] This response may increase the animal's chance of finding food, though it has also been speculated the emigration response relieves pressure on the home population. The related term squirrel cage may refer to * a Squirrel cage rotor * a squirrel cage fan or blower The B vitamins are eight water-soluble Vitamins that play important roles in cell Metabolism. For the similarly spelled pyrimidine see Thymine Thiamin or thiamine, also known as Vitamin B1 ^[9]

See also

• List of countries by percentage of population suffering from undernourishment
• Anorexia nervosa
• Auxology
• Cachexia
• Copenhagen Consensus
• Dehydration
• Essential nutrient
• Famine
• Famine response
• Food price crisis
• Hunger
• Illnesses related to poor nutrition
• Nutrition
• Plumpy'nut
• Poverty
• List of famines
• United Nations World Food Programme
• Food

References

External links

• Action Against Hunger - Giving the most basic of Human Rights - The right to Food
• The CE-DAT Complex Emergency Database - A source of data on malnutrition and mortality in conflict-affected populations
• A Life Saver Called "Plumpynut", CBS 60 Minutes, October 21, 2007
• MSF Warns More Food Will Not Save Malnourished Children Group Calls for Increased and Expanded Use of New, Innovative Nutritional Products
• Micro-algae Algosophette
• Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition (IIMSAM)
• Reports on World Nutrition Situation The annual reports prepared by UN Standing Committee on Nutrition contain detailed information on common challenges, extent of malnutrition, efforts being taken to address them, and a wealth of other useful information.
• The Merck Manual - Malnutrition
• Physical Growth & Nutritional status
• World Hunger Map (from United Nations World Food Programme)
• FAO country statistics
• HungryKids Info on malnutrition from HungryKids
• Fighting Hunger and poverty in Ethiopia (Peter Middlebrook)
• Meds & Food for Kids - Fighting malnutrition in Haiti one child at a time. Dr Peter J Middlebrook (born in Lincoln, UK, 15 November, 1965) is a leading English political economist/ Political Scientist
• Malnutrition
• And why not Spirulina as solution?
• GAIN - Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition