Today, l want to talk about hidden hunger. I am quite certain it is just a handful of people who know and understand what hidden hunger is all about.
Hidden hunger is different from chronic hunger, but hidden hunger is a form of a malnutrition or malnourishment. Let's explain what these other forms of hunger are before we move to our main topic.
Malnutrition is a condition that results from eating a diet and in which nutrients are either not enough or are too much, such that the diet causes health problems. It may involve calories, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.
Chronic hunger is the inadequate intake of food for a long period of time to meet the body's requirements. And this contributes to almost half of all deaths in children. The signs are also very overt. Two of the signs are wasting (low weight-for-height) and stunting (low height-for-age).
Now hidden hunger or micronutrient deficiencies, occurs when the quality of food that people eat does not meet their requirements of essential vitamins and minerals for growth and development. It affects 2 billion people across the globe, with children being the most affected.
The lack of vitamins and minerals such as iodine, zinc, iron, calcium, the B vitamins (especially folic acid and vitamin B12), vitamin D and vitamin A are the common forms of hidden hunger. This hunger or lack of micronutrients is said to be hidden because the signs are not visible. Surprisingly enough, these nutrients are needed in very small quantities but are vital to human health, advancing physical and intellectual development in many important ways. Although one cannot feel hidden hunger in the stomach like starvation or having an empty belly, what hidden hungerdoes is to strike at the core of one's health and vitality. In the meantime we will look at Vitamin A, Iodine, Iron and Zinc- what happens when they are lacking and also some foods that we could derive these nutrients.
Vitamin A deficiency causes weak immune systems and makes one vulnerable to diseases. Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of acquired blindness in African children. Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin and therefore needs to be consumed with fat in order to have optimal absorption. Foods that are rich in this vitamin include sweet potatoes, carrots, fish, lettuces, tropical fruits, dark leafy greens just to mention a few.
The most well-known clinical sign of iodine deficiency is goiter. Over one-third of school age children in Africa suffer from insufficient iodine intake. Severe iodine deficiency for example is the common cause of preventable mental defect globally, and even mild iodine deficiency reduces mental abilities. Only a tiny amount of iodine is needed in a person's daily diet. Just a teaspoon of iodine is all we need to consume in our whole lifetime. It does not mean you should just take a teaspoonful of iodine and gulp down (lol). We can get iodine from consuming iodated salt. Iodine can also be found in fish and shellfish and in some vegetables that were cultivated in iodine rich soils.
Iron is needed in our diets to make red blood cells, which carry oxygen around our body. The lack of iron in one's system makes a person anaemic. Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional disorder worldwide. More than 2 billion people are affected by this deficiency. About 115,000 pregnant women die due to the lack of iron. Beans, meat, seafood, dark green leafy vegetables are some foods that iron is rich with.
Zinc deficiency causes abnormal labour and foetal abnormalities in pregnant women, retards physical growth and mental capacity in children and delays sexual maturity in adolescents. Also zinc deficiency in children results in increased risk of pneumonia, malaria and diarrhoea. Some foods rich in zinc are nuts, cocoa, mushrooms, beans, chicken, pork.
Hidden hunger is estimated to be directly or indirectly responsible for about 45% global deaths to children under the age of 5. The emphasis on hidden hunger is more on children because its effects are long term than short term. This means that whatever nutritional disorder a child suffers from during the gestation period up to 2 years of their life tends to affect the child when he is growing. If you look closely you will find that children suffering from hidden hunger have stunted growth, and tend to drop out of school readily because the child is dumb. Impaired vision, blindness, reduced economic productivity and even early death are all associated with micronutrient deficiency.
The strong advice given to pregnant women to take their medications which normally include iron, folic acid, ferrous sulphate and others is not for nothing. Breastfeeding new born babies exclusively for the first 6 months is also extremely important because breastmilk supplies all the nutritional needs of the child and after that period, complementary foods that are introduced should have the right nutrients for the continuous growth of the child.
Concluding, hidden hunger is not just a problem of poverty. There are malnourished children in even the richest households. This is not an issue of food access but of the quality of food and caring practices. I would suggest that to save ourselves and the generations to come let's be mindful of what we eat and feed our children. Some food items such as flour, oil, rice are been fortified with vitamins and minerals. I would suggest you be on the lookout for these fortified items. Next time you fill your plate or your kid's, pause and ask yourself am I filling just the stomach or I am meeting the nutritional needs of the body?
By: Dorcas .A. Graham |
Comments
There are no comments yet!