Zambia

Nutrition Issues

In the past, the society have regarded “hunger = acute malnutrition”. As a result, the international efforts in improving nutrition have focused more on acute malnutrition. This may be because acute malnutrition accompanies radical weight loss that cannot go unnoticed.

On the other hand, chronic malnutrition has often been overlooked since its symptom is not apparent. However, statistics shows that over 30% of under 5 years-old children in developing countries are chronically malnourished. More than 6,000,000 children lose their lives due to diseases triggered by chronic malnutrition. Today, chronic malnutrition is called as “hidden hunger”, and the importance of intervening into the symptom is starting to be recognized.

Deficiency of micronutrients including protein, vitamin, and mineral is a common challenge in developing countries, whereas, international food aid concentrates on providing “Carbohydrate”. Micronutrients are critical to healthy physical development of infants because it contributes to the formation of almost all of the body functions. The supply of micronutrient is believed to stimulate the immune system of human body as well. Fortunately, the international attentions to nutrition are increasing. In 2004, 2008, and 2012 the Copenhagen Consensus Center identified “supply of micronutrients” as a major focus to solve the global challenges. In 2010, the World Bank and IMF held a Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Committee Meeting to discuss on the practical method to improve nutrition. The G8 Summit announced to jointly tackle to solve nutritional issues in 2012.