Malnutrition a global problem: Critical analysis

Abstract

Malnutrition, which results from a combination of inadequate food, ill health and inadequate
care, primarily affects the more vulnerable in a household, mainly women and children. Poor
maternal nutrition results in Low Birth Weight (LBW), and these infants are at higher risk of
growth retardation during childhood and adolescence, and thus perpetuates the cycle of
malnutrition across generations.
In the developing countries, on an average, more than 60 per cent of the women of child
bearing age (WCBA) have been suffering from nutritional anemia, about 20 per cent of them
have some degree of Iodine Deficiency Di.sorders (IDDs), Vitamin A deficiency disorders are
still a major contributing factor for diseases and illnesses and so on. The prevalence of Protein
Energy Malnutrition (PEM) is still the single most important factor contributing about 55 per
cent of child mortality in the developing countries.