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.

African leaders must do more to ensure continent meets farming potential

"Images of starving children, epitomized in news coverage from Ethiopia in the 1980s, have given Africa a reputation for famine that does an injustice to the continent's potential," Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria and a member of the Africa Progress Panel, writes in a CNN opinion piece.

8 Nov 2012

Women more likely to develop spice allergy

Imagine a world where you could never dine away from home, wear makeup, smell of sweet perfumes or eat a large percentage of food on store shelves. According to allergists at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting that is kicking off today in Anaheim, Calif., that is the world for 2 to 3 percent of individuals living with a spice allergy.

8 Nov 2012

MSF reports violence in western Myanmar preventing delivery of medical services

Ongoing ethnic tension and sectarian violence in areas of western Myanmar are preventing Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) from delivering medical care in the region, the group said on Monday, the New York Times reports. The group "reported that many of its local staff members were afraid to work at refugee camps and medical centers in Rakhine State, where people wounded in clashes need treatment for wounds from guns, knives, arrows and other weapons," the newspaper writes.

7 Nov 2012

Sabin initiates Part II of Na-GST-1 vaccine Phase I hookworm trial

The Sabin Vaccine Institute (Sabin) today announced the start of Part II of its Phase I clinical trial of the Na-GST-1 vaccine candidate, marking another major milestone in the progress toward developing a human hookworm vaccine.

6 Nov 2012

Reducing malnutrition among refugees in South Sudan

"A combined effort by health, water, sanitation and nutrition partners, including the World Food Programme (WFP), to reduce alarming malnutrition rates amongst Sudanese refugees who have settled in Maban County of South Sudan, is beginning to yield fruit," WFP reports in an article on its webpage, adding, "Parents say they have seen dramatic improvements in their children's health."

6 Nov 2012

Aid workers warn child nutrition reaching emergency levels in northern Mali

"Aid workers say child malnutrition is reaching emergency levels in northern Mali, which has been under the control of armed militant groups since April," VOA News reports. "Brussels-based aid organization Medecins du Monde, or Doctors of the World, says malnutrition rates among children under the age of five in occupied northern Mali are reaching 'alarming levels,'" the news service writes.

6 Nov 2012

Malaysia hopes to solve nutrition transition problem

With health problems like obesity and diabetes on the rise due to changing diets in emerging economies, Malaysia is forging new linkages between domestic and international scientists and institutions in hopes of mitigating the problem.

3 Nov 2012

IRIN examines humanitarian response to Sahel food crisis

IRIN this week published two articles examining the humanitarian response to the Sahel food crisis, which "put an estimated 18.7 million people at risk of hunger and 1.1 million children at risk of severe malnutrition."

29 Oct 2012

Partners in Health Haitian food security program easily 'transplanted' to other areas suffering malnutrition

"It has been said that hundreds of thousands of dollars and equally as many hours have been spent searching for a cure for malnutrition," Gillaine Warne, director of Zanmi Agrikol, the agricultural arm of Partners In Health that operates in Haiti, writes in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog.

29 Oct 2012

USAID releases progress report for Feed the Future

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah last week released the first progress report for the U.S. global food security program, Feed the Future, which "has helped 1.8 million food producers adopt improved technologies or management practices that can lead to more resilient crops, higher yields and increased incomes," IIP Digital reports.

25 Oct 2012

Presidential candidates must discuss food, hunger in foreign policy debate

"What should President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Gov. Mitt Romney talk about during Monday's foreign policy debate? The force that can make or break a foreign policy: food," author William Lambers, who partnered with the U.N. World Food Programme on the book "Ending World Hunger: School Lunches for Kids Around the World," writes in a Tennessean opinion piece.

23 Oct 2012

Case reports highlight importance of vitamin and mineral supplementation after bariatric surgery

Non-compliance with vitamin and mineral supplementation protocols after bariatric surgery could lead to nutritional deficiencies and related health complications, such as heart damage, according to two separate case reports unveiled today at the American College of Gastroenterology's (ACG) 77th Annual Scientific meeting in Las Vegas.

23 Oct 2012

Rhythm presents RM-131 Phase 1 clinical trial results for diabetic gastroparesis at ACG 2012

Rhythm announced today the results of two Phase 1 clinical trials of RM-131, the company's novel ghrelin agonist for the treatment of diabetic gastroparesis, which demonstrated that RM-131 greatly accelerates gastric emptying in healthy subjects with good tolerability.

22 Oct 2012

Political, community support critical to improving maternal mortality in Afghanistan

"Ten years ago, I took my first role as a midwife in a refugee camp in Iran. ... The situation for women and children was terrible -- the maternal mortality rate was among the worst in the world," Sabera Turkmani, president of Afghan Midwives Association, writes in this Al Jazeera opinion piece.

16 Oct 2012

Comprehensive handbook on vitamin A deficiency disorders

Vitamin A plays a key role among the vitamins essential for healthy growth and development. Vitamin A deficiency disorders (VADD) are therefore an important part of general malnutrition that in the majority of cases leads to failure to thrive and underweight.

16 Oct 2012

U.K. announces $56M to assist Yemen with nutrition

"The U.K. has announced that £35 million ($56 million) in aid over the next three years will be aimed at improving nutrition for mothers and children in Yemen amid fears that a hunger crisis will derail fragile gains in the Middle East's poorest country," the Guardian reports.

11 Oct 2012

Nutrition education needed to combat child malnutrition in India

"Among causes of child malnutrition in India are not just poverty or inadequate access to food but also a lack of nutritional knowledge among families," Nisha Malhotra, an instructor of economics at the University of British Columbia, writes in a Live Mint opinion piece.

10 Oct 2012