Malnutrition News and Research

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Malnutrition is a condition which occurs when there is a deficiency of certain vital nutrients in a person’s diet. The deficiency fails to meet the demands of the body leading to effects on the growth, physical health, mood, behaviour and other functions of the body. Malnutrition commonly affects children and the elderly.

Breast milk is an incredible low-tech solution for infant malnutrition

In his latest New York Times column, Nicholas Kristof discusses the health benefits of breast milk for preventing childhood malnutrition. "When we think of global poverty, we sometimes assume that the challenges are so vast that any solutions must be extraordinarily complex and expensive.

24 Jun 2011

Australian chefs and food bloggers support Oxfam’s 2011 Stop Hunger Appeal with a special cookbook

Acclaimed Australian chefs and food bloggers have donated recipes to a special edition Oxfam cookbook to encourage Australians to get behind the international aid agency’s new ‘Stop Hunger’ appeal.

24 Jun 2011

MUHC/McGill parasite disease researcher wins CPHA International Public Health Award

With close to one third of the world's population infected with parasitic worms, MUHC researcher Dr. Theresa Gyorkos is thinking big when it comes to finding a solution to this global public health challenge. As part of an international research and policy team, she is contributing to the soon-to-be-released WHO Strategic Plan to control intestinal worm infections in more than 100 countries.

23 Jun 2011

Food prices projected to rise over next decade, FAO/OECD report says

Food prices are likely to continue to rise over the next decade, "putting the poor at an increasing risk of malnutrition and hunger," according to a joint report from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.

18 Jun 2011

UK should continue to provide aid to India, parliamentary report says

Despite enormous economic gains over the past 25 years, Britain should continue to provide aid to India until 2015 to ensure the country meets the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to a cross-party report published by the House of Commons international development committee on Tuesday, the Guardian reports.

17 Jun 2011

Meeting promotes partnership to end malnutrition in first 1,000 days of life

Government officials, nutrition and health experts, as well as civil society advocates from around the world, met in Washington, D.C., on Monday to promote the 1,000 Days Partnership, which launched in September 2010, VOA News reports in a piece featuring quotes from U.S. officials about efforts to end child deaths from malnutrition.

15 Jun 2011

FDA approves Abbott's CREON capsules for treatment of EPI due to cystic fibrosis

Abbott announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an infant-specific dose of CREON Delayed-Release Capsules to treat exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) due to cystic fibrosis.

15 Jun 2011

Abbott’s CREON receives FDA approval for infant-specific dose

Abbott announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an infant-specific dose of CREON® (pancrelipase) Delayed-Release Capsules to treat exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) due to cystic fibrosis (CF). The CREON 3,000 units of lipase capsule provides the lowest dosage strength in the class approved by the FDA. This new option will enable more precise dosing titration in accordance with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation guidelines for infant dosing.

14 Jun 2011

Government officials, civil society leaders and activists to combat child malnutrition

More than 350 high-level government officials, leaders of civil society organizations, and activists from around the world will convene in Washington, DC, on June 13 to build political momentum for nutrition efforts that will help save the lives of at least 1 million children annually.

13 Jun 2011

Turning back the clock on aging stem cells to make better bone

Researchers want to turn back the clock on aging stem cells so they'll make better bone.

10 Jun 2011

ICU patients should wait a week before receiving intravenous feeding: New study

Patients in the intensive care unit who do not tolerate adequate nutrition from tube feeding should wait a week before receiving intravenous (IV) feeding because, compared with early IV feeding, it enhances recovery from critical illness.

8 Jun 2011

Conference panel examines manufacturing of nutrition-rich foods

IRIN reports on a World Conference on Humanitarian Studies panel discussion about the manufacturing of nutrition-rich foods to treat malnutrition in the developing world.

8 Jun 2011

Cattle plague – rinderpest, eradicated for good

As welcome news, world farm monitors on Wednesday declared a cattle-killing virus that has been a curse through the ages as eradicated. This is the first time an animal disease has been eradicated in human history. The global watchdog for farm-animal trade approved a report certifying that the last 14 countries of the world were free of rinderpest, also called cattle plague.

26 May 2011

Mayoly-Spindler, ProteaBio complete MS1819 Phase I/IIA trial in malabsorption syndrome

ProteaBio Europe SAS, announced today that the company, in partnership with Mayoly-Spindler, has successfully completed a Phase I/IIA human clinical trial for their MS1819 recombinant Lipase.

26 May 2011

Study links early complementary feeding with infant malnutrition in Kenya

A study of infants under 36 months old in a low-income area of Nairobi, Kenya, found that a "lack of information on exclusive breast feeding and low level of education for the mothers is the main cause of the frequent illness and malnutrition among infants," the East African reports.

23 May 2011

Funding shortages mean WFP will stop food aid to nearly 1 million Nepalese

On Wednesday, the World Food Program (WFP) said "it does not have enough funds to continue flying supplies by helicopter to western Nepal, where road access is patchy and around a million people rely on U.N. food aid," Agence France-Presse reports. According to the WFP, an estimated 41 percent of people in Nepal are undernourished.

20 May 2011

Afghan Acting Health Minister says country wants to boost immunization access

Reuters featured an interview with Afghanistan's Acting Health Minister Suraya Dalil on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly in Geneva. "Afghanistan, whose government is fighting a worsening insurgency that has dragged on for nearly a decade since the U.S.-backed overthrow of the Taliban, is also plagued by poverty, malnutrition and corruption," Reuters writes, adding that the government and donors together spend "barely" $10 per person on health annually.

19 May 2011

Also in Global Health News: WHO highlights health care-associated infections; Niger food shortages, health care workers; Latin American food security

The WHO on Thursday highlighted the importance of hand washing and other efforts to prevent health care-associated infections (HAIs), which affect millions of people annually, with developing countries carrying the greatest burden of such infections, CIDRAP News reports.

7 May 2011

iOWH, Center for World Health and Medicine partner to combat childhood diarrhea

The Center for World Health and Medicine at Saint Louis University and the Institute for OneWorld Health have established a joint research agreement to develop new drugs to combat diarrhea, which is the second leading cause of death worldwide in children under age 5.

4 May 2011