Nutrition and food crises are not faced rather often generally, but those populations that represent poor and deprived regions experience these issues. Malnutrition is a problem that does not only mean that some people do not have enough food regularly, it also reveals the situation in such areas as Africa where the representatives of the general public, especially little children, get ill and even die because they do not eat enough.
Niger population has faced three food crises during the last decade, which affected it greatly. Almost 400,000 children were at risk of malnutrition even in the beginning of 2010s. These were mainly those kids who were less than 5 years old, as they refer to the most vulnerable and dependent population. Fortunately, some improvements were achieved recently due to the action plan developed by United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, Niger’s Ministry of health, and several other non-governmental organizations. With the help of funding, they equipped healthcare centers with those technologies that enhanced and streamlined monitoring and evaluation procedures. The coordination between different health systems improved as well, which provided them with an opportunity to share best practices and base interventions on the lessons learned (UNICEF, 2012).
Peruvians also experienced malnutrition recently because of issues with harvest and a long history of poverty. Professionals underline the necessity to deal with malnutrition because it has an adverse influence on children’s physical development and potential of worsening mental development as well. About a decade ago, professionals implemented several interventions that allowed to cope with malnutrition in Nueva Esperanza successfully. First of all, health centers were created throughout the community and parents were educated regarding the necessity to ensure decent nutrition for their children. The adults started monitoring their kids’ condition so that they could consult a professional as soon as the issue occurred. Medical staff encouraged mothers to bring their children to health centers regularly so that they could assess their development and provide recommendations considering nutrition. The main attention is paid to child’s heights. If the change is not enough, mothers should be able to resort to health centers for support and assistance (World Bank, 2008).
West African countries are still among those that experience malnutrition more than others. Professionals create feeding centers to improve this situation. They underline that this problem worsens because children are often raised in single-parent families so that they do not receive support and money for food from their fathers. In addition to that, many children suffer from hidden malnutrition that presupposes the lack of vitamins and minerals, which leads to blindness and mortality. This type of hunger is extremely critical because it cannot be noticed by mothers immediately. Trying not only to make children obtain enough calories to have the normal weight but also receive all micronutrients required for normal development, professionals emphasized the necessity to ensure that they are included in a regular daily nutrition. They also focus on parent education, which proves that the number of cases of malnutrition will be decreased (Farrell, 2009).
Thus, three main strategies can be used to control malnutrition successfully, as they have already proved their advantages. Firstly, professionals can create equipped healthcare centers that monitor children’s condition and treat it based on lessons learned. Secondly, they can educate mothers and encourage them to bring children to health centers for evaluation of their heights and recommendations regarding nutrition. Thirdly, they can ensure that all significant micronutrients are obtained by kids through nutrition.
References
Farrell, S. P. (2009). Hidden hunger [Video file]. Web.
UNICEF. (2012). During the nutrition crisis, the Niger benefits from lessons learned. [Video file]. Web.
World Bank [WorldBank]. (2008). My future in my first centimeters [Video file]. Web.