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.

Action on climate change will save lives, according to Canadian health professionals

Canada's prime minister must put the health of the world's citizens at the centre of discussions at the upcoming UN climate summit, according to Canadian health professionals. Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced last week that he will join world leaders at the historic meeting in Copenhagen in December.

4 Dec 2009

Sodexo launches 'Better Tomorrow Plan' to meet the challenges of community and environmental practices

Sodexo (PARIS:SW) (OTCBB:SDXAY), world leader in Quality of Life solutions, announced today the creation of the "Better Tomorrow Plan," designed to better respond to the challenges of proper Nutrition, Health and Wellness, Local communities and Environment.

3 Dec 2009

New form of pathogen becomes a healthcare challenge in Africa

Research shows how a new, more deadly strain of Salmonella emerged over an 18-month period. Becoming resistant to antibiotics, acquiring the ability to spread from person to person and losing genes along the way, the new strain has become a healthcare challenge in Africa, killing up to one in four patients.

1 Dec 2009

Also in Global Health news: 'Positive deviance' approach to health; child malnutrition in Madagascar; Somalia's health system; weak harvests in West Africa; improving health equity

The Boston Globe examines "'positive deviance,' an approach to behavioral and social change. Instead of imposing solutions from without, the method identifies outliers in a community who, despite having no special advantages, are doing exceptionally well. By respecting local ingenuity, proponents say, the approach galvanizes community members and is often more effective and sustainable than imported blueprints."

30 Nov 2009

Majority of Canadians want to keep their commitment to reduce child deaths around the world

GTA parents and children gathered at an African-style clinic in downtown Toronto today, where World Vision released a poll that showed most Canadians (84%) think it's great that a lot of focus is placed on immunizing Canadian children against the H1N1 flu and other diseases. They (79%) want to see just as much focus on immunizing children in poor countries.

27 Nov 2009

HKI's Shawn Baker honored for groundbreaking research on malnutrition

At two recent conferences on innovative malnutrition research organized by the Copenhagen Consensus Center, Helen Keller International's programs to reduce malnutrition were awarded first prize by government officials, NGOs, researchers and private sector representatives.

25 Nov 2009

News outlets examine conditions of refugees in Yemen, malnutrition, cholera risks

Reuters reports that as a new camp capable of hosting 10,000 to 12,000 refugees in Yemen will open in a few weeks, "[m]alnutrition and the risk of a cholera outbreak are threatening lives at Yemen's main camp [Masrak] for people fleeing fighting in the north." According to Thomas Davin, regional UNICEF chief, "Hygiene is terrible, really, really terrible."

24 Nov 2009

Media examines food summit reaction, malnutrition in Liberia, Yemen

VOA News reports on reactions from last week's U.N. World Summit on Food Security in Rome: "The delegates in Rome promised to continue efforts to reduce by half the number of hungry people by two thousand fifteen. But critics pointed out that world leaders made a similar promise more than ten years ago. Several countries promised to increase aid for agriculture, to help developing nations become more independent. Still, critics deplored a lack of greater action" (Simms, 11/22).

23 Nov 2009

UNICEF report highlights gains in child health, while 1b still lack essential services

A special edition of UNICEF's annual State of the World's Children report, released 20 years after the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, shows that "fewer youngsters are dying and more are going to school - but an estimated 1 billion still lack services essential to their survival and development," the Associated Press reports.

20 Nov 2009

Schoolchildren should eat snail pie to reduce malnutrition and iron deficiency, says nutritionist

A nutritionist in Nigeria says that malnutrition and iron deficiency in schoolchildren could be reduced in her country by baking up snail pie. In a research paper to be published in the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health, she explains snail is not only cheaper and more readily available than beef but contains more protein.

20 Nov 2009

New online tool launched to encourage donations and fight global hunger

Mercy Corps is challenging Americans to put the "giving" back in Thanksgiving by matching the amount they spend on a meal this Thanksgiving Day with a donation that fights global hunger.

19 Nov 2009

MSF's volunteer physicians receive free access to Elsevier's electronic CDS tool

The physicians of the world renowned Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999, will receive free access to MD Consult (www.mdconsult.com), Elsevier's premier electronic clinical decision support (CDS) tool, as the result of a special new Elsevier campaign.

18 Nov 2009

FAO head 'not satisfied' with omission of hunger eradication deadline from summit declaration

Jacques Diouf, head of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), "is not satisfied" that the World Summit on Food Security's final declaration excludes "exact targets to reduce hunger," the BBC reports.

17 Nov 2009

Opinions: Health system funding; malnutrition assistance; social dimension of HIV

"For too long, global health funding has gone to diseases like AIDS with the most vocal lobby groups and not to the diseases with the greatest need," Philip Stevens, a senior fellow at International Policy Network, writes in a Business Daily opinion piece.

16 Nov 2009

Potential success of U.N. World Food Summit questioned

Next week's World Food Summit in Rome "is not likely to make more than token headway in the fight against hunger, with leaders merely pledging to boost aid to poor countries but setting no targets or deadlines for action," Reuters/New York Times reports.

16 Nov 2009

Almost 200m undernourished children worldwide, report says

In developing countries, almost 200 million children under the age of 5 "suffer from stunted growth and health problems due to poor nutrition in their early years," according to a UNICEF report released on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

12 Nov 2009

Gene variants which influence insulin metabolism can also affect birth weight

Low birth weight increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. Until recently scientists had attributed this to maternal malnutrition during pregnancy. However, now it seems that genetic background may also play a major role. A research team of Technische Universität München and Helmholtz Zentrum München has now demonstrated, that gene variants which influence insulin metabolism can also affect birth weight.

12 Nov 2009

Also in global health news: RUTF; global hunger; preventing natural disasters; El Salvador floods

"Rich nations should do more to help vulnerable countries prepare for natural disasters if they want their stretched humanitarian funds to go further during the economic downturn, a report said Tuesday," Reuters/New York Times reports

11 Nov 2009

Climate change is the biggest health threat to children in the 21st century, says new report

Climate change is the biggest health threat to children in the 21st century and represents an immediate global emergency, according to a new report, "Feeling the Heat," released today by Save the Children, at the Barcelona United Nations Climate Change talks.

6 Nov 2009

Also in global health news: Kenya child mortality; DRC rape; Cape Verde dengue outbreak; Guatemala malnutrition; East Africa flooding

"The most current data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics under the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) launched on Wednesday shows mortality among children under five years stands at 7.4 percent, while that of infants is at 5.2 percent," Business Daily reports.

5 Nov 2009