Malnutrition News and Research

RSS

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.

Mcgill Food Conference to focus on shortage of food in Guatemala

Some of the important reasons underlying the current food crisis in Guatemala - where more than 50,000 families don't have enough to eat and women and children in particular are today struggling to survive - are at the top of the agenda of McGill University's second annual Global Food Security Conference, Oct. 5-7, in Montreal.

18 Sep 2009

CTI project to enhance child nutrition in Malawi and Tanzania

A McKnight Foundation grant recently awarded to Compatible Technology International (CTI), Tanzania's Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) will address these needs. The organizations are combining their expertise for a four-year $673,000 research and development grant project, which will focus on enhancing child nutrition and the livelihoods of rural households in Malawi and Tanzania.

18 Sep 2009

Food aid hits 20-year low as number of 'critically hungry' people increases, WFP says

Global food aid is at a 20-year low even though the number of "critically hungry people" is expected to reach the highest level ever, the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday, Reuters reports (9/16).

18 Sep 2009

Malnutrition, poor sanitary conditions and HIV leads to defective immune system

The most common causes worldwide include malnutrition, poor sanitary conditions and human immune deficiency virus (HIV) infection. Other causes of temporary or permanent damage to the immune system include old age, medications (e.g. cortisone, cytostatic drugs), radiotherapy, stress after surgery and malignant tumors of the bone marrow and the lymph nodes.

14 Sep 2009

Drought, food shortages lead Guatemala to declare 'state of public calamity'

"Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom declared 'a state of public calamity' late Tuesday to help mobilize funds and resources to confront a food shortage that will affect thousands of families," the Associated Press reports (9/9).

10 Sep 2009

Global economic downturn increases malnutrition, death rates among African children, U.N. assessment indicates

The global economic downturn is "raising malnutrition and death rates among Africa's children" and restricting their access to health care, according to a U.N. assessment released ahead of a G20 leaders meeting later this month that will focus on ways to minimize the effect of the downturn on the world's poorest people, VOA News reports.

3 Sep 2009

The Leverhulme Trust funds researchers for understanding the relationship between agricultural production and population health

Pioneering researchers coordinated by the London International Development Centre (LIDC) have won approximately £3.5m to address the global food security crisis by investigating the neglected links between agriculture and health. Their programme, funded by The Leverhulme Trust, bridges traditional disciplines and aims to create a new holistic paradigm for understanding the relationship between agricultural production and population health.

2 Sep 2009

Also in global health news: U.S. global development policy; DDT in Uganda; potential drought, famine in Ethiopia

"President Barack Obama has signed a Presidential Study Directive [PSD] authorizing a U.S. government-wide review of global development policy, according to sources briefed on the review by the White House," Foreign Policy's blog, "The Cable," reports. The new PSD is important, according to people in development, "because it signals the intent to reach across government agencies to think through a more coordinated and strategic approach to development policy," according to the blog (Rozen, 8/31).

2 Sep 2009

WFP asks for $230m in emergency food aid for Kenyans

"The U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP) appealed on Tuesday for more than $230 million to provide emergency food aid over the next six months for 3.8 million Kenyans affected by deepening drought and high food prices," Reuters reports (Wallis, 8/25).

27 Aug 2009

Half of Somalia needs emergency aid, significant deterioration in food security, report says

Somalia faces its "worst humanitarian crisis since civil war began in the country 18 years ago, with half of the country's population in need of emergency aid," the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU), a U.N. agency, said in a report (pdf) released Monday, Bloomberg reports (McLure, 8/25).

26 Aug 2009

Mutations of gene regulators can result in growth disorders

A specific gene is particularly frequently involved in the development of short stature. Researchers in Heidelberg have now discovered that sequences of genetic material on the X and Y chromosome that regulate this gene are also crucial for growth in children.

26 Aug 2009

Smokers may exacerbate malnutrition in developing countries, study finds

The ANI24/Times of India examines the results of a recent study that found smokers in rural Indonesia tend to compromise their family food budgets in order to support their habit.

25 Aug 2009

Reuters examines increasing hunger in Mexico

"More Mexicans are going hungry because of a severe recession that threatens to increase malnutrition and reduce gains in the fight against poverty since the mid-1990s," Reuters reports in a story examining hunger in Mexico.

25 Aug 2009

Increased expenditure on tobacco products leads to poorer nutrition for children

A new study finds that smokers in rural Indonesia finance their habit by dipping into the family food budget-which ultimately results in poorer nutrition for their children. The findings suggest that the costs of smoking in the developing world go well beyond the immediate health risks, according to authors Steven Block and Patrick Webb of Tufts University.

24 Aug 2009

Opinion: Chronic disease in Africa; education can help combat disease; climate change and health; TB vaccine

"An epidemic of chronic, non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, mental illness, cancer, diabetes, and obesity is growing in Africa, a continent still struggling with infectious and nutritional diseases," according to a Boston Globe opinion piece by Michelle Holmes and Shona Dalal.

18 Aug 2009

GSK starts testing H1N1 vaccine; Opinion piece addresses U.S. role in helping developing countries procure vaccine

"GlaxoSmithKline has started testing its pandemic H1N1 swine flu vaccine in humans, and expects to start giving the results to government agencies next month, the drugmaker said on Friday," Reuters reports. The company "plans to conduct 16 different trials of the vaccine and to test 9,000 people in total across Europe, Canada and the United States," according to the news service (Deighton, 8/14).

17 Aug 2009

UNICEF issues $1.5 million urgent appeal for malnourished children in Central African Republic

UNICEF on Tuesday issued an urgent appeal for $1.5 million to provide thousands of acutely malnourished children in the Central African Republic (CAR) with "life-saving therapeutic foods, drugs and other supplies" over the next six months, VOA News reports (Schlein, 8/11).

12 Aug 2009

Scientists discover how new drug kills roundworms

A PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases study found how a new drug developed by scientists in China effectively kills roundworms – "a parasite that lurks in the intestines and which affects nearly two billion people in tropical countries," Reuters reports. "Roundworms are particularly harmful to children and pregnant women," Reuters writes.

12 Aug 2009

Hillary Clinton tours International Medical Corps operations in DRC

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited International Medical Corps operations in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Tuesday, a region devastated by more than a decade of conflict and displacement, and pledged an additional $17 million in support for victims of sexual and gender-based violence, and $3 million to form a female police force.

11 Aug 2009

Mal-illumination - the silent epidemic

Most of human history has witnessed people living and working outdoors during the light of day, absorbing "life-charging" full-spectrum solar energy from the sky. An average of 10 hours daily in the sunlight, 70 hours weekly, was common for eons.

10 Aug 2009

Malnutrition News and Research

Further Reading

Mcgill Food Conference to focus on shortage of food in Guatemala

CTI project to enhance child nutrition in Malawi and Tanzania

Food aid hits 20-year low as number of 'critically hungry' people increases, WFP says

Malnutrition, poor sanitary conditions and HIV leads to defective immune system

Drought, food shortages lead Guatemala to declare 'state of public calamity'

Global economic downturn increases malnutrition, death rates among African children, U.N. assessment indicates

The Leverhulme Trust funds researchers for understanding the relationship between agricultural production and population health

Also in global health news: U.S. global development policy; DDT in Uganda; potential drought, famine in Ethiopia

WFP asks for $230m in emergency food aid for Kenyans

Half of Somalia needs emergency aid, significant deterioration in food security, report says

Mutations of gene regulators can result in growth disorders

Smokers may exacerbate malnutrition in developing countries, study finds

Reuters examines increasing hunger in Mexico

Increased expenditure on tobacco products leads to poorer nutrition for children

Opinion: Chronic disease in Africa; education can help combat disease; climate change and health; TB vaccine

GSK starts testing H1N1 vaccine; Opinion piece addresses U.S. role in helping developing countries procure vaccine

UNICEF issues $1.5 million urgent appeal for malnourished children in Central African Republic

Scientists discover how new drug kills roundworms

Hillary Clinton tours International Medical Corps operations in DRC

Mal-illumination - the silent epidemic

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

Latest News