For this paper, I have chosen to write about malnutrition in Guatemala. One of the first friends I met at university is part of a family who adopted a 4-year-old girl from Guatemala when he was 10. She was small for her age and had learning difficulties, and is now a teenager who never caught up on her growth and still needs assistance due to learning disabilities. Like many children in Guatemala, she was so malnourished that she suffered damage due to her malnutrition. While malnutrition in Guatemala is very extreme, hunger and malnutrition also affect many in the US, though to a different degree and in different ways. Being from Saudi Arabia, where I do not know many people affected by hunger or malnutrition, I find malnutrition, and the needless damage it causes, very interesting and worth exploring. While the word ‘malnutrition’ brings to mind images of starving, underweight children who do not have enough to eat, the definition of malnutrition is broader.
According to the National Health System (NHS), there are two types of malnutrition: undernutrition, which refers to a lack of nutrients, and overnutrition, which refers to an excess of nutrients (n.d.). While many who are malnourished appear overly thin and emaciated, others do not- undernutrition can refer to a lack of nutrients, as well as a lack of calories (World Food Programme [WFP], 2015). To summarize, malnutrition means ‘poor nutrition,’ and includes those who don’t eat enough calories, those who eat enough but are missing vital nutrients, and those who eat too many. All types of malnutrition are unhealthy and are associated with a range of health issues. Malnutrition is especially dangerous for pregnant and nursing women, infants, and young children, as infant and child growth and development is permanently and adversely affected by malnutrition (WFP, 2015).
According to the World Food Programme, malnutrition can cause stunted growth, poor immune function that makes children incredibly susceptible to disease, impaired cognitive skills and learning disorders, and even death (2015). According to United States Agency for International Development (USAID), 1 of every 2 Guatemalan children under the age of five is chronically malnourished (2011). While this statistic alone is astonishing and alarming, malnutrition rates are not uniform across the country; in the indigenous community, which comprises approximately 45% of the population of Guatemala, 65.9% of children under the age of 5 are malnourished (USAID, 2011). Guatemala has the fourth highest rate of malnutrition in the world, and is included in the count of the 36 countries that contribute to 90% of growth stunting worldwide (WFP, 2015). In the US, while fewer children are struggling with the type of severe malnutrition that leaves children underweight and emaciated, malnutrition is an issue that plagues individuals across all socioeconomic levels. In the US, about 1% of children are chronically malnourished (Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, n.d.), and approximately 85% of US Americans fail to eat the recommended daily amount of vital nutrients such as calcium, iron, and vitamins A, C, and D set out by the Food and Drug Administration (Bush & Welsh, 2015).
46.2 million Americans receive some type of food aid due to difficulty affording enough food for all members of the family (Shah, 2014). While there is little starvation in the US, many children and adults suffer from illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, and others that are caused or worsened by poor nutrition (Center for Disease Control, 2011). In both Guatemala and the US, malnutrition can be due to poverty, a lack of education and understanding about proper nutrition, or both. The US and Guatemala approach their malnutrition problems in very different ways. The US government funds and administers a number of programs aimed at improving the nutrition of pregnant and nursing women, infants, and children. These programs include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps); free and reduced cost breakfast and lunches for low-income students; emergency food programs that provide funds to feed institutionalized or homeless adults and children (Mercier, 2012, page v). Several years ago, the Guatemalan government signed the Zero Hunger Pact and began implementing programs that aim to drastically reduce malnutrition rates (Teffer, 2013).
These include campaigns promoting breastfeeding; government-provided vitamin and micronutrient supplements that are handed out by doctors in urban and rural clinics across the country; programs that provide more nutritional seeds to families living by subsistence agriculture; and school feeding programs (Teffer, 2013). Although Guatemala has made a commitment to combat infant and childhood malnutrition, in a country with so much land, families shouldn’t struggle to provide nutritious diets to their children. If I were tasked with addressing malnutrition in Guatemala, I would dedicate more resources to delivering nutrition education aimed at women in every stage of life, including nutrition education in schools and workshops for mothers and grandmothers. I would also develop programs that help families plant small home garden plots that provide a balanced diet from within the garden, including foods such as beans (protein); leafy greens, tomatoes and carrots (vitamins and minerals); and potatoes and corn (starch/ carbohydrates).
Malnutrition is threatening the health and development of entire generations in Guatemala, despite efforts by the government to reduce malnutrition rates. While the US has many programs that provide funds for food to the needy, Guatemala has little money and so many needy that this may not be practical. Educating and empowering the poor in Guatemala to improve their children’s diet could significantly reduce malnutrition rates, thus reducing disease rates and mortality, and improve outcomes for countless underprivileged children.
References
Bush, B., & Welsh, H. (2015 Feb 10). Hidden hunger: America’s growing malnutrition epidemic. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/Center for Disease Control (CDC). (2011 May 26). Obesity: Halting the Epidemic by Making Health Easier. CDC. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/Mercier, S. (June 2012). Review of US Nutrition Assistance Policy: Programs and Issues. AGree: Transforming Food & Ag Policy. Retrieved from http://foodandagpolicy.org/National Health Services (NHS). (n.d.). Malnutrition. NHS Choices. Retrieved from http://www.nhs.uk/Shah, N. (2014 Sept 1). Food Stamp Use Starting to Fall. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/Teffer, P. (2013 Oct 18). Guatemala grapples with child malnutrition. Deutsche Welle (DW). Retrieved from http://www.dw.de/United States Agency for International Development (USAID). (2011 Nov/Dec). Our Neighbors, Ourselves: Guatemala’s Chronic Malnutrition Crosses Borders. Frontlines Online Edition. Retrieved from http://www.usaid.gov/World Food Programme. (2015). Guatemala: Overview. World Food Programme. Retrieved from https://www.wfp.org/countries/guatemala/overviewWorld Food Programme. (2015). What is malnutrition? World Food Programme. Retrieved from https://www.wfp.org/hunger/malnutrition-old
