Malnutrition Research Paper

Abstract Introduction: Malnutrition is a major contributor to childhood mortality in Bobirwa District in Botswana, affecting up to 4% to 5% of under five children. It is unclear whether the current interventions to address the condition are effective in addressing it.

This will be a prognostic cohort study exploring the outcomes of malnourished children put under the double ration program in Bobirwa District.

Methodology

Children who are diagnosed with malnutrition and put on the rehabilitation program will be recruited for the study. Information regarding diet will be documented. They will be followed up on weekly basis and their anthropometric parameters measured. Background diet history and source household characteristics will be

Globally, 870 million people are estimated to suffer chronic malnutrition, with 852 million (over 97% of them) living in developing countries (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2012). Commensurate with social economic development, hunger and malnutrition reduced globally between 1990 and 2007. However, the rate of decline leveled off. In Botswana, the trend was the same. The country made huge strides between 1990 and 2006, mainly due to community nutrition interventions and social economic development (Seleka et al., 2008). However, the decline achieved from the nineties stagnated and malnutrition remains a major contributor of childhood morbidity and mortality in the country to date.

In a nation with a literacy rate of above 80%, and a per capita income of over USD 16 000, the high levels of malnutrition experienced in Botswana would be rather unexpected. A similar scenario in South Africa has been described as a national embarrassment (Marshall, 1998) and all efforts should be made to understand the root causes and address this

Between 1991 and 2001 (a 10 year period) there was a 20% reduction in global disease burden per head due to communicable, maternal, perinatal, and nutritional conditions (Lopez et al, 2006). Even in low and middle income countries, almost half the disease burden is now from non-communicable diseases. However, though social economic development and education has saved the world from disastrous epidemics and infectious diseases, hunger, a condition associated with poverty and underdevelopment, has persisted in the world.

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is by far the hardest hit region. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), nearly one in four people in SSA suffer chronic hunger. The sad news is that hunger seems to be rising two percent per year, a reversal of the downward trend till 2007 (FAO, 2013). This came about as a result of the economic meltdown that affected the world, climate changes, and the continued (if not escalated) conflict in Somalia, South Sudan, parts of DRC and other places causing population displacement (Cabrol,