Malnutrition - the bane of the third world

[waltky]

Malnutrition damages gut organisms...

Study: Malnutrition Damages Gut Microbes, Stunting Children's Growth, Development
June 04, 2014 ~ Inside every one of us, trillions of microbes are busy in our intestines. They help extract nutrients from the food we eat. But that colony of bacteria and other organisms can be damaged by malnutrition, and a study of children in South Asia indicates the damage can last even after the child is treated.

Malnutrition is one of the leading health challenges facing young children in developing countries. Death rates are down, thanks in part to super-nutritional food therapies — such as Plumpy’Nut — and programs to treat malnourished kids. But microbiologist Jeffrey Gordon of Washington University in Saint Louis says malnutrition has long-term consequences. “Stunting, problems with immune function, [and] reductions in IQ persist, despite these therapeutic interventions,” said microbiologist Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, of Washington University in Saint Louis. “And the question is, why?”

Children who go through a period of malnutrition may be at a permanent disadvantage. In a new study in Bangladesh, Gordon and his colleagues used DNA to study the intestinal microbes, also called the microbiota, which normally change — or “mature” — as a child gets older. They found that children who were undernourished had immature microbiota, even after getting the standard therapy of antibiotics and food supplements. “The therapeutic food caused them to gain weight, but it didn’t affect the state of maturity of their microbiota,” he said.

A Bangladeshi mother holds her child, who was treated for malnutrition at the International Centre for Diarrhoel Disease Research in Dhaka.

Gordon thinks reversing the effects of malnutrition requires not just healthy food but also a gut full of healthy, mature microbes. “Whether healthy growth is possible with this immaturity, we don’t think so,” he said. A lot of work stands between this study and better treatments for malnutrition, which might include supplements containing “good” bacteria, along with improved therapeutic foods.

But the first author of the paper, Washington University MD-PhD student Sathish Subramanian, says he and his colleagues are encouraged by the results of their research. “This gives us hope that through this study and others to come, that we will better understand the variation of microbiota structure across different children, across varying nutritional status, and possibly across different geographies,” he said. The research paper by Supramanian, Gordon, and their colleagues is published online in Nature.

Study: Malnutrition Damages Gut Microbes, Stunting Children's Growth, Development

 

[waltky]

Children suffering from food shortages is likely to worsen...

Child Hunger, Malnutrition on Rise in Parts of Eastern, Southern Africa
December 25, 2015 — The U.N. Children’s Fund warns poor rainfall and the El Nino weather phenomenon are putting hundreds of thousands of children at risk of hunger and disease in parts of eastern and southern Africa.

Some countries in eastern and southern Africa have endured two seasons of poor or non-existent rainfall. This situation is being exacerbated by a strong El Nino, a warming weather phenomenon that is expected to peak in the first few months of the new year. The U.N. children’s fund reports the well-being of hundreds of thousands of children already suffering from food shortages is likely to worsen under these conditions.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says chronic hunger remains highest in sub-Saharan Africa, where one in four people are malnourished.​

Hungry, malnourished

For example, it notes more than 10 million people in Ethiopia are going hungry and this number is likely to increase to 15 million in 2016. It says 350,000 children could need treatment for severe acute malnutrition next year. UNICEF reports food emergencies are affecting around 855,000 people in Somalia, and the number of people currently short of food in Zimbabwe is expected to triple between January and March to 1.5 million.

The U.N. agency said it is particularly concerned about high levels of malnutrition among young children in Malawi. Spokesman Christophe Boulierac said UNICEF is carrying out a mass screening for malnutrition in children under the age of 5 across 90 percent of the country. “We fear hunger in Malawi where almost half of the children are already undernourished because Malawi struggles to cope with drought and with the first maize deficit in a decade," said Boulierac.

A mother carrying her baby in a basket is screened for malnutrition at a joint UNICEF-World Food Program Rapid Response Mission, which delivers critical supplies and services to those displaced by conflict, in Nyanapol, South Sudan​

Weather conditions

Boulierac says Malawi has been taking a beating from a combination of terrible weather events. He says El Nino, severe flooding and a prolonged drought, as well as a stagnant economy have added to the country’s food shortages. “A recent Vulnerability Assessment revealed that 2.8 million people in Malawi are in need of urgent food aid," said Boulierac. "Even if official figures are saying that malnutrition cases are not increasing, we know from past experience that this may not be the whole story.” UNICEF estimates nearly 4 percent of Malawian children under the age of 5 suffer from severe acute malnutrition, a fatal condition for young children.' The agency said its screening program is designed to ferret out vulnerable children so they can be given life-saving therapeutic treatment before it is too late.

Child Hunger, Malnutrition on Rise in Parts of Eastern, Southern Africa

 

[waltky]

45% of all child deaths are associated with malnutrition and infections...

Poor Immune Function May Play Role in Malnutrition, Researchers Suggest
May 26, 2016 - Experts say 45 percent of all child deaths in the world are associated with malnutrition and infections. Research in the last several years has begun to look at a possible link between increased risk of infections, caused by poor immune system function, and mortality among undernourished children.

In a review paper published in the journal Trends in Immunology, researchers at Queen Mary University of London and the Kenya Medical Research Institute presented evidence that suggests starvation alone is not the only cause of death among children who don’t have enough nutritious food to eat. They said malnutrition could be the result of a process that begins with and is compounded by a malfunctioning immune system inherited from the previous generation, which leads to increased death from infection in the malnourished.

Aid organizations' efforts to treat malnutrition and wasting are often incomplete. “There is some improvement with feeding interventions, but you don’t entirely reverse the negative effects of malnutrition, such as stunting, which is a very common outcome in children who are malnourished," said Claire Bourke, an immunologist at the Center for Genomics and Child Health at Queen Mary University. "They don’t grow as tall as they should.” Researchers don’t know whether immune dysfunction causes malnutrition or the other way around. Either way, the immune dysfunction can be epigenetically imprinted by malnutrition, which affects gene expression. So, the baby of a malnourished mother could inherit an altered immune system, and there is growing evidence that impaired immunity may lead to malnutrition in the offspring, even if they have an adequate diet, according to experts.

Mouse models

At this point, researchers have a poor understanding about how the immune system and malnutrition are interrelated. They are beginning to tease out the relationship between the two using mouse models. It is widely known that children who are severely malnourished endure a host of immune system problems. These include having fewer white cells for fighting off infection, fragile gut membranes that are easily penetrated by microbes, and defective lymph nodes — cradles where disease-fighting cells are formed. Bourke is heartened by the notion that altering immune pathways could be a new target to reducing poor health due to over- and undernutrition.

Studies are underway in Africa to see whether something as simple as giving antibiotics or anti-inflammatory medication to malnourished children improves the health of a large percentage of the kids. “And if the immune system provides new keys to reducing that huge burden of mortality and morbidity due to malnutrition, then I think it’s a really exciting possibility,” said Bourke. The findings are adding to a new understanding of the immune system: In addition to fighting off infection, it plays a role in a well-functioning metabolism, the health of the nervous system, and growth, which is impaired by malnutrition.

Poor Immune Function May Play Role in Malnutrition, Researchers Suggest

 

[waltky]

Malnutrition as well as obesity sweeping the world...

Obesity boom 'fuelling rise in malnutrition'
Tue, 14 Jun 2016 - Malnutrition is sweeping the world, fuelled by obesity as well as starvation, new research suggests.

The 2016 Global Nutrition Report said 44% of countries were now experiencing "very serious levels" of both under-nutrition and obesity. It means one in three people suffers from malnutrition in some form, according to the study of 129 countries. Being malnourished is "the new normal", the report's authors said. Malnutrition has traditionally been associated with children who are starving, have stunted growth and are prone to infection.

Fat boy tries to button his shirt​

These are still major problems, but progress has been made in this area. The report's authors instead highlighted the "staggering global challenge" posed by rising obesity. The increase is happening in every region of the world and in nearly every country, they said. Hundreds of millions of people are malnourished because they are overweight, as well as having too much sugar, salt or cholesterol in their blood, the report said.

'Totally unacceptable'

Professor Corinna Hawkes, who co-chaired the research, said the study was "redefining what the world thinks of as being malnourished". "Malnutrition literally means bad nutrition - that's anyone who isn't adequately nourished. "You have outcomes like you are too thin, you're not growing fast enough… or it could mean that you're overweight or you have high blood sugar, which leads to diabetes," she said. While many countries are on course to meet targets to reduce stunted growth and the number of underweight children, very few are making progress on tackling obesity and associated illnesses such as heart disease.

In fact, the report says, the number of children under five who are overweight is fast approaching the number who are underweight. Co-chairman Lawrence Haddad said: "We now live in a world where being malnourished is the new normal. "It is a world that we must all claim as totally unacceptable." The report calls for more money and political commitment to address the problem. It says for every $1 (70p) spent on proven nutrition programmes, $16 (£11.25) worth of benefits ensue.

Obesity boom 'fuelling rise in malnutrition' - BBC News

 

[waltky]

Malnutrition, diarrhea kill 200 in Nigeria in a month...

MSF: 200 dead in Nigeria from malnutrition, diarrhea in a month
June 23, 2016 -- Nearly 200 people in Nigeria who fled violence from militant Islamist group Boko Haram have starved to death in the northeastern town of Bama within the past month.

The town in Nigeria's Borno state has long been a target of Boko Haram assaults. The town was seized by the militant group from September 2014 until March 2015. Médecins Sans Frontières -- also known as Doctors Without Borders or MSF -- said on Wednesday that it was able to access Bama for several hours on Tuesday. The humanitarian organization estimates 24,000 people, including 15,000 children, are sheltered in a camp on a hospital complex.

"A catastrophic humanitarian emergency is currently unfolding in a camp for internally displaced people in Borno state," MSF said in a statement. "During those few hours, the MSF medical team discovered a health crisis -- referring 16 severely malnourished children at immediate risk of death to the MSF in-patient therapeutic feeding center in Maiduguri. A rapid nutritional screening of more than 800 children found that 19 percent were suffering from severe acute malnutrition -- the deadliest form of malnutrition." Boko Haram, which seeks to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria and has ruthlessly targeted civilians, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in March, becoming the Islamic State's West Africa Province.

In November, Boko Haram was designated the most deadly terrorist group in the world in the 2015 Global Terrorism Index by the Institute for Economics and Peace. The MSF team found that 1,233 graves have been dug in the past year -- 480 of which for children. At least 188 people died in the camp, mostly from malnutrition and diarrhea. Nearly 1,200 people, mostly women and children, were evacuated from the Bama area to the city of Maiduguri between June 13 and June 15. Of 466 children screened by MSF, 66 percent were emaciated, 39 percent of which had a severe form of malnutrition. MSF hospitalized 78 children at a feeding center that has a capacity of 86 beds.

"This is the first time MSF has been able to access Bama, but we already know the needs of the people there are beyond critical. We are treating malnourished children in medical facilities in Maiduguri and see the trauma on the faces of our patients who have witnessed and survived many horrors," Ghada Hatim, head of the MSF mission in Nigeria, said in a statement. "Bama is largely closed off. We have been told that people there, including children, have starved to death ... new graves are appearing on a daily basis. We were told on certain days more than 30 people were dying due to hunger and illness."

MSF: 200 dead in Nigeria from malnutrition, diarrhea in a month

 

[waltky]

Using GM crops to feed the hungry and malnourished...

'Biofortified’ Seeds Can Help Combat Malnutrition
May 28, 2017 — Scientists are helping to combat the world hunger crisis by breeding nutrient-packed crops that will fill stomachs and lessen the effects of malnutrition.

It’s called biofortification. It sounds complicated, but the concept is simple: create smarter seeds that grow into more nutrient-dense staple crops than regular ones. Then distribute the seeds on a large scale to farmers in developing countries, so they can grow crops that are more nutritious.

Seeds with more nutrients

This is what researchers at HarvestPlus, a Washington-based nonprofit, have been doing on a large scale since 2003, feeding an estimated 20 million people in 30 countries. Their biofortified seeds pack one or more vital nutrients, such as iron, zinc and Vitamin A, said Bev Postma, HarvestPlus’ CEO. “It’s very important that the seeds are not just high in nutrition, but that they are still high-yielding, they are pest resistant, they are climate resistant — because these are the things a farmer still wants more,” she said.

Scientists are creating seeds with more nutrients to help fight world hunger. HarvestPlus, a Washington-based nonprofit, has been fortifying sees with vital nutrients since 2003.​

Deficiencies of these nutrients can leave people more vulnerable to illness and infections, and in extreme cases cause blindness and stunt growth. Children are especially affected. The organization’s research has found that many of these effects can be reversed in a matter of months once nutrient-packed foods are introduced into the local diet.

150 varieties of 12 staples

HarvestPlus scientists have produced 150 varieties of 12 staple foods, including corn, beans, rice, lentils and wheat. In 2003, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave the organization a $25 million grant over four years to help them scale up. This year, they are one of eight finalists for a $100 million grant from the MacArthur Foundation, which could help them realize their goal of reaching 1 billion people with biofortified crops by 2030. “We’re not trying to change behavior, we are looking to see what people are eating and we are just switching out to make that food more nutritious,” Postma said. Biofortified seeds are produced in a traditional manner, and they are not genetically modified.

Seed distribution

See also:

New Generation of Companies Looks to Create New Kind of Plant-based Food
May 25, 2017 — In a San Francisco kitchen, chefs are re-creating everyday foods, such as eggs, mayonnaise, salad dressings and cookies from unconventional sources.

“Playing with ingredients that are totally different in the food system is a lot like walking on the moon. We’re doing things no one has ever done before so it’s challenging,” said chef Chris Jones, who heads product development at the Hampton Creek technology company. While vegetarian foods have been around as long as there have been vegetarians, a new generation of companies, mostly from California, is using new technology to look for alternative protein sources that do not come from an animal.

Hampton Creek

Hampton Creek uses robotics to identify plants from around the world that can help re-create traditional foods substituting animal products with plant material. “We look into the different molecular characteristics and ultimately we’re able to identify relationships between what we see on a molecular level and whether it causes a cake to rise or what makes a mayo taste good or whether it binds a cookie together or makes a nice creamy butter,” said Hampton Creek founder Josh Tetrick. “It’s been really recent advances, both in screening methodologies as well as data science, that actually makes it possible,” said Jim Flatt, Hampton Creek’s chief of research and development.

Beyond burger

In the lab of another company, Beyond Meat, scientists re-created a hamburger patty out of proteins from yellow peas, soy and beets for the look of blood. The scientists are breaking down the building blocks of meat and going into the plant kingdom to look for those same elements. They’re then rebuilding them into a new kind of food that uses plant-based protein to create a patty that looks just like a beef patty “What we’re doing is we’re taking plant matter. We’re running it through heating, cooling and pressure and that’s basically stitching together the proteins so they take on the fibrous texture of animal muscle,” said Beyond Meat founder Ethan Brown.

These companies say plants hold the key to solving global food problems. “Whether it’s Asia, Africa, India, you’re seeing a very strong trend toward increasing animal protein consumption. I don’t think as a globe we can afford that,” Brown said. “The planet actually cannot work with the way we are consuming meat because we don’t have enough arable land to create enough cereals for all the animals that we need if we are to feed the world through meat,” said Jeremy Coller of Coller Capital, an investor of alternative protein foods.

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Insecurity, Underfunding Hamper Nigeria Hunger Relief
May 25, 2017 — Aid agencies warn that humanitarian efforts against hunger in northeastern Nigeria are dangerously underfunded and some communities remain cut off from aid and their farms as the military continues to battle Boko Haram.

Communities in northeastern Nigeria are facing the dual threats of hunger and the terrorist group known as Boko Haram. The zone has been identified by aid agencies as one of four conflict-torn parts of the world at risk of famine this year. The United Nations Children’s Fund estimates that the number of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition will reach 450,000 this year in the states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.

Internally displaced persons wait to be served with food at Dikwa camp, in northeast Nigeria's Borno state

Scott Paul, a senior humanitarian policy advisor for the international charity organization Oxfam America, was recently in northeastern Nigeria. He said the biggest driver for the humanitarian emergency is the inability for residents to access their farmlands, fishing sites and the markets. “I spoke with people who had to flee villages that were captured by Boko Haram and they’ve since come back but they can’t go a kilometer out of town to farm. Right now people are coming home sometimes under false pretenses," he said. "They’re being told that their homeland and home areas are safe and they’re coming home to find that the towns themselves might be safe but the farmlands outside aren’t safe. The markets aren’t safe. The roads aren’t safe. And in some areas that we’re working in there isn’t even clean and safe water to be procured.”

A soldier walks through the burnt building at the headquarters of Michika local government in Michika town, after the Nigerian military recaptured it from Boko Haram, in Adamawa state

Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency says people internally displaced by the conflict can voluntarily go back to liberated areas as long as they feel safe. The Nigerian army provides road escorts several times a week from Maiduguri to certain communities. But aid groups say many communities are simply not prepared for the large numbers of people coming back. The Norwegian Refugee Council noted more than one million people have returned to northeast Nigeria since October 2015, and they are returning to towns that have no basic services or infrastructure. Nearly one million homes were destroyed or damaged by years of fighting, according to Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima.

Earlier this month, Shettima told reporters it is still not safe for many internally displaced people to return to their homes. The governor said the IDP camps will remain open indefinitely, but that he hopes Borno state will be safe enough for full rehabilitation very soon. The state capital, Maiduguri, is home to more than a dozen camps for those displaced by Boko Haram. Those camps have repeatedly been targeted by suicide bombings.

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[strollingbones]

every few years there is a new miracle crop that will save the world....nothing ever comes of it...seems people dont care that much about starvation till it comes to their door