Malnutrition

Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs places physiological needs, that of food, water, shelter, clothing, adequate sleep, etc, as the basis for all growth, development, and motivation.  Above anything else, these basic things are needed before a child can be ready to grow and learn.  Yet many children all over the world are not receiving these basic needs.

I work with many children who experience hunger because of their situation in poverty.  Our center strives to provide them with healthy meals and proper nutrition to sustain good health that is optimal for learning.  All over the world, hunger and malnutrition are even a more severe problem than those I currently work with.

Malnutrition is evident in roughly 1/3 of the children in developing nations (Berger, 2012).  Infants and children who are chronically malnourished may suffer in these three ways: (Berger, 2012, p.156)

1. Their brains may not develop normally.
2. No body reserves to protect them against common diseases.  About half of all childhood deaths occur because malnutrition makes a childhood disease lethal.
3. Some diseases result directly from malnutrition.

Read these sad facts below on hunger from http://www.stophungernow.org/hunger-facts

Facts on Hunger

• Hunger is defined as a feeling of discomfort or weakness caused by lack of food, coupled with the desire to eat. Oxford Dictionary, 2013
• Malnutrition is defined as a lack of proper nutrition, caused by not having enough to eat, not eating enough of the right things, or being unable to use the food that one does eat. Oxford Dictionary, 2013
• Undernutrition contributes to 2.6 million deaths of children under five each year - one third of the global total. UNICEF, 2011
• Nearly 870 million people, or one in eight, were suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2010-2012.  FAO, 2012
• Undernourishment kills more people every year than malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS combined.  USAID, 2012
• In 2011, 1 in 6 children were estimated to be underweight in developing countries with most (56 million) living in South-central Asia.  WHO, 2011
• Almost 1 billion people across the globe will go to bed hungry tonight, 200 million of them children. USAID, 2013
• The proportion of children under 5 years old in developing countries who were underweight is estimated to have declined only 11% between 1990 and 2010 from 29% to 18%.  This rate of progress is insufficient to meet the MDG target of halving 1990 levels of underweight by 2015.  WHO, 2011

Facts on School Feeding and Education

• There are 66 million primary school-age children who attend classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone. WFP, 2012
• There are 67 million school-age children who do not attend school. Poor households must often choose between sending their children to school or to work the fields. WFP, 2012
• Research shows that providing in-school meals, mid-morning snacks, and take-home rations through school feeding programs can alleviate short-term hunger, increase children’s abilities to concentrate, learn, perform specific tasks, and has been linked to an increase in the enrolment of girls. World Bank, 2013
• As of 2012, 31 million primary-school pupils worldwide dropped out of school. UNESCO, 2012
• Educated girls are likely to marry later and have fewer children, who in turn will be more likely to survive and be better nourished and educated. UNICEF, 2012
• When a girl in a developing country receives 7 years of education she marries 4 years later and has 2.2 fewer children. Girl Effect, 2013
• Undernutrition during the critical 1,000 days from pregnancy to a child’s second birthday can cause irreversible stunting and mental impairment. USAID, 2013
• Secondary school completion rates for adolescent girls is below five percent in nineteen sub-Saharan African countries. Girl Effect, 2013
• A person’s earnings increase by 10 percent with each year of school they complete. USAID, 2013
• Increasing the average level of higher education in a country by just one year can add half a percentage point of growth to GDP. UNICEF, 2012

As an early childhood educator, I understand the importance of good health and nutrition and the role it plays in a child being able to learn.  Proper nutrition doesn't just start after birth, but begins when a woman is pregnant and providing the nutrients needed for a proper start in life.  Then, as a child needs to grow, physically, emotionally, cognitively, they need to be properly nourished to learn.  I have joined some organizations where I can begin to track the needs of early education and nutrition in other countries so I can determine how I can make a difference in the lives of children all over the world.