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Abstract
Malnutrition, with its 2 constituents of protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrient
deficiencies, continues to be a major health burden in developing countries. It is
globally the most important risk factor for illness and death, with hundreds of millions
of pregnant women and young children particularly affected. Apart from marasmus and
kwashiorkor (the 2 forms of protein- energy malnutrition), deficiencies in iron, iodine,
vitamin A and zinc are the main manifestations of malnutrition in developing countries.
In these communities, a high prevalence of poor diet and infectious disease regularly
unites into a vicious circle. Although treatment protocols for severe malnutrition
have in recent years become more efficient, most patients (especially in rural areas)
have little or no access to formal health services and are never seen in such settings.
Interventions to prevent protein- energy malnutrition range from promoting breast-feeding
to food supplementation schemes, whereas micronutrient deficiencies would best be
addressed through food-based strategies such as dietary diversification through home
gardens and small livestock. The fortification of salt with iodine has been a global
success story, but other micronutrient supplementation schemes have yet to reach vulnerable
populations sufficiently. To be effective, all such interventions require accompanying
nutrition-education campaigns and health interventions. To achieve the hunger- and
malnutrition-related Millennium Development Goals, we need to address poverty, which
is clearly associated with the insecure supply of food and nutrition.