Category: Malnutrition

The GCC countries have generally a smaller population (with the exception of Saudi Arabia) compared to other countries in the Arab region. The state of child malnutrition in the GCC countries, apart from Yemen, is generally low. Yemen however has the highest percentage of infants with low birth weight which currently stands at 45% (UN ESCWA, p.6). By 2005, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia had attained their 2015 target (4.5% and 5% respectively) of reduction in child malnutrition rate. Countries which have faired badly in the recent past include Kuwait and Qatar which saw an increase in their child malnutrition rates from 5% in the 1990s to 10% in the mid-2000s. Between 1990 and mid-2000, the child malnutrition rate in Yemen increased by 16%. Oman has the second highest child malnutrition rate (18%) in the GCC region (UNESCWA, p.6).

The different states of child malnutrition in the GCC region can be explained by a number of factors. Countries with the lowest child malnutrition such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and UAE have the highest percentage of infants who are exclusively breastfed (34%, 31% and 34% respectively). Countries with moderate rates of child malnutrition such as Kuwait and Qatar have moderate percentage of infants who re exclusively breastfed (12% for both countries). Secondly, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and UAE have the highest percentage of infants who are breastfed and given complementary foods (65%, 60% and 52% respectively). In Kuwait and Qatar, the percentage of infants under the age of 9 months who are breastfed and given complementary foods stands at 26% and 48% respectively (Unicef, p.122). Current data for Yemen and Oman are not available.

Strategy of malnutrition control

Malnutrition can be controlled through various strategies which span across national, local and international authorities. At the national level, governments should set the example by recognizing the existing needs in diets and public health workers and facilities. They should then set and supervise national principles and standards that help to address the existing needs. Governments should appropriate adequate budget to address child malnutrition which would train adequate healthcare workers, provide affordable maternal and child health services and initiate educative and marketing campaigns that create awareness among members of the general public (Unitedcalltoaction.org, p.iv).

At the local level, grassroots organizations and non-governmental organizations can play an important role in controlling child malnutrition since they are closer to the communities. Programmes such as vitamin and mineral supplementation programmes should be introduced in communities for pregnant mothers, children and women in the child-gearing age. Unitedcalltoaction.org states that, “vitamins and minerals are vital components of good nutrition and human health, advancing physical and intellectual development in many important ways,” (p.iii). Vitamin and mineral supplementation programmes are especially important for tackling malnutrition because majority of people across the globe are deficient in the minerals due to nutrient-deficient diets and misinformation.

In addition to the vitamin and mineral supplementation programmes, governments and health-related organizations should embark on aggressive breastfeeding programmes by educating mothers and pregnant women on the importance of breast milk in promoting infants and children’s health. Rules and legislations should especially be set and enforced to allow working women to breastfeed their babies for the first six months (UNICEF, p.7). This is because breast milk is rich in nutrients and minerals that strengthen children’s immune system and protect them from diseases and infections throughout their vulnerable childhood.

Works Cited

UN ESCWA. Health and Millennium Development Goals in the ESCWA Region. E/ESCWA/SCU/2007/Technical Paper 2. 2009. Web.

UNICEF. The State of the World’s Children 2009: Maternal and Newborn Health. 2009. Web.

UNICEF. UNICEF and the Global Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding (GSIYCF): Understanding the Past – Planning the Future. 2009. Web.

Unitedcalltoaction.org. Investing in the Future: A United Call to Action on Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies – Global Report 2009. Web.

Malnutrition is a poor condition of health caused by lack of food or lack of the right type of food. The World Health Organization has defined malnutrition as “the cellular imbalance between supply of nutrients and energy and the body’s demand for them to ensure proper growth, maintenance and specific body functions.”(Thuria Ghaleb). Some of the GCC countries are characterized by high rates of birth and the decrease in death rates of children less than five years.Malnutrition in most cases is usually caused by illness combined with insufficient food intake. Low food availability, sub standard health care, untreated drinking water and poor sanitation plans with inadequate infant and pre and postnatal care are the main causes of malnutrition. Majority of the people in the globe specifically in the rural areas do not have access to safe drinking water and most of them lack the access of good sanitation. This causes the widespread of the infectious diseases, for example cholera, dysentery and diarrhea, which in turn causes malnutrition. Malnutrition can be seen in children who are either undernourished or over nourished. Malnutrition can occur due to lack of a unit of vitamin in the diet, or as a result of a person not absorbing enough food. (Thuria Ghaleb sports health and lifestyle). The recent overwhelming rise in global food prices that begun in 2006 has sky rocketed and ever since, has left millions vulnerable to hunger and under nutrition particularly those in countries where food is a major concern. During food crisis, such as famine and droughts, pregnant women, lactating mothers and children below the age of five are among those who are at a risk of under nutrition owing to their higher nutrition requirement.

Since 1990, the estimated number of maternal deaths is over 500 000 and children under five is 9.2 million per year worldwide. The causes of death can greatly be attributed to inadequate nutrition, poor health mostly in undeveloped and developing countries like Yemen. Studies done in Yemen revealed that most children who were malnourished were from homes that were not economically well up. The study also showed that the highest numbers of children malnourished were not being breast fed properly and some had stopped before the age of one year. The millennium development goal 5: Universal access to reproductive health by 2015 summarizes the strategic plan for malnutrition control. It targets maternal health and infants’ health. Several organizations and governments came together in order to develop specific suggestions to support the implementation of the Global Strategy with its emphases on policy, health system, and community action to support optimal infant and young child feeding. The minimum infant and young children feeding practices include: Six months of exclusive breastfeeding, continued breastfeeding until the child is two years and more, adequate, safe and appropriate complementary foods and feeding starting after six months and related support for maternal health, nutrition and birth spacing. In May 2002, a Global Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding was developed through a two-year participatory process and was adopted by the World Health Organization and later endorsed by the UNICEF Executive Board. (UNICEF and the Global Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding (GSIYCF pdf))

In conclusion despite, these significant milestones in policy and programming, proper breast feeding and infant weaning remains a challenge in most of the developing countries and undeveloped countries.