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.

Current prevention strategies may not be very effective at reducing in-hospital falls

While falls are a common cause of injury, particularly in older, hospitalized patients, some may not be as preventable as once thought. According to a new literature review published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, many of the risks that frequently cause falls are not adequately addressed with the fall prevention initiatives used in healthcare facilities.

7 Jul 2011

Global food production needs to double by 2050 to achieve food security, survey shows

Global food production will have to increase 70 to 100 percent by 2050 to feed the world's predicted nine billion people, and that increase is only possible if more sustainable farming methods are used, according to the U.N.'s annual World Economic and Social Survey released on Tuesday, VOA News reports.

7 Jul 2011

Donor fatigue harming efforts to fight drought in Horn of Africa, aid agencies say

As a severe drought affecting Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia forces more people into refugee camps, donor fatigue is harming aid agencies' abilities to work in the Horn of Africa, because "these recurrent droughts used to happen every 5-10 years but what we see now is it basically every other year ... an indication of climate change conditions," Michael Klaus, UNICEF spokesperson for east and southern Africa, told Reuters in an interview.

6 Jul 2011

Intravenous nutrition does not have a positive effect if administered early

Critically ill patients receive intravenous nutrition - via an infusion in a large vein - when nutrition via a stomach or intestinal tube is insufficient. There is international dispute over the correct timing of intravenous nutrition: European guidelines recommend administering intravenous nutrition within 48 hours to prevent malnutrition.

1 Jul 2011

U.N. Somalia coordinator warns about increasing rates of malnutrition

Mark Bowden, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, highlighted the "rapidly deteriorating" situation there resulting from drought and high food prices, Agence France-Presse reports.

1 Jul 2011

GlobalPost examines GHI's work to address chronic malnutrition in Guatemala

Guatemala's "vast inequality" helped it land "on the list of eight 'plus' countries in the Global Health Initiative (GHI) that President Barack Obama is focusing on as part of his expansion and revision of how the U.S. is funding and rethinking global aid," GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog reports in an article examining malnutrition in Guatemala, the wealthiest of nations in the first round of GHI plus countries.

30 Jun 2011

More than 10M people affected by drought in East Africa, U.N. says

More than 10 million people in the Horn of Africa "are affected by the drought in one way or other," Elisabeth Byrs, spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said on Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reports.

29 Jun 2011

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