Underlying Risk Determinants of Acute and Moderate Malnutrition in Children and its Preventive Management

Abstract

Nutritional deficiency is a significant public health concern that has serious implications for both health and socioeconomic development in low- and middle-income nations, children <5 years of age who are malnourished are most likely to suffer from severe malnutrition. Unicef's Joint Malnutrition Estimates for 2021 reveal that stunting prevalence has been falling since 2000, but in 2020, more than one in five children under the age of five were stunted, and 45.4 million children were malnourished. Associations between malnutrition and disability are becoming increasingly important on a worldwide scale, as both are major global public health issues, both are important human rights concerns, and both are now prominent on the global health agenda. Severe malnutrition is a better term for these conditions because it reflects chronic poverty, poor living conditions with pervasive deficiencies in sanitation and hygiene, a high prevalence of infectious diseases and environmental insults, food insecurity as well as poor maternal and foetal nutritional status, along with inadequate nutrition in infancy, toddlerhood, and childhood. A higher risk of serious illness and mortality is associated with children who are severely malnourished. This risk is due to acute infectious illnesses. Inadequate calorie or protein consumption causes acute malnutrition. As a result of low food availability caused by social, economic, and environmental factors, primary acute malnutrition is widespread in poor nations. As a result of acute starvation, biochemical alterations are triggered by metabolic, hormonal, and glucoregulatory processes. It is possible to treat the majority of children with primary acute malnutrition at home with nutrition-specific treatments (i.e., counselling of parents, ensuring household food security, etc.). Although alternative protein sources might result in cost reductions, there is no guarantee that they would. When it comes to treating children with mild acute malnutrition, alternative protein sources, notably plant-based protein substitutes, have shown more promise. Continued research on alternative proteins is important, given that cost is a key barrier to scaling up therapy for acute malnutrition and that other protein sources offer a feasible way to reduce cost. An overview of malnutrition is presented in this article, with a focus on therapy and therapeutic foods for malnutrition management.