Project – FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO MALNUTRITION IN UNDER 5 CHILDREN

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION                 

1.1 Background to the study

The World Health Organization (2013) estimates that thereare 178 million children that are malnourished across the globe, and at any given moment, 20 million are suffering from the most severe form of malnutrition. Malnutrition contributes to between 3.5 and 5 million annual deaths among under-five children. UNICEF estimates that there are nearly 195 million children suffering from malnutrition across the globe. In 1997, the World Health Organization had observed that 60% of the deaths occurring among all the underfive children in developing countries were attributed to malnutrition (Murray and Lopez., 1997). Most of the damage caused by malnutrition occurs in children before they reach their second birthday, in the time when the quality of a child’s diet has a profound impact on his or her physical and mental development.

It has been estimated by the global burden of disease study that under-five malnutrition alone has caused approximately half (15.9%) of the global loss of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) that is the sum of years of life lost from premature mortality years lived with disability  adjusted for severity (Faruqueet al., 2008). This consequently affects the intelligence level of children, their behavior and school performance. The impaired mental development is taken as the most serious long-term handicap associated with underfive malnutrition.

Project – FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO MALNUTRITION IN UNDER 5 CHILDREN