I chose to blog about malnutrition/nutrition beause, it is very important to the healthy development of children. There are many children today that are hungry on a daily basis, and this leads to health problems, social issues, concentration problems and self-estemm issues in children. It is an important topic to understand because so many childrens and families are affected by malnutrition. The very children in our classrooms may be victims of poor nutrition. Understanding this illness can possibly lead to understanding some of the problems children are having in the classroom because sometimes it is not just a behavior problem but could be the negative effects of malnutrition.
Deborah Braconnier
More than 30 million Americans experience hunger regularly or are at risk of going hungry, according to the Child Welfare League of America. Some 8.5 million Americans, including nearly 3 million children, experience hunger on a daily basis Many of them must rely on food banks and church-sponsored hot meals programs to get by. Of course, those who don't get enough to eat run the risk of becoming malnourished.http://www.livestrong.com/article/487412-malnutrition-in-america/#ixzz1ol80EkvA
Although this is bad in America, other countries batttle with malnutrition is much worse. As reported, "Ethiopia alone had 9 million famine victims in 1983. The most common form of malnutrition in Africa is protein energy deficiency affecting over 100 million people, especially 30-50 million children under 5 years of age"(The African Council for Food and Nutrition, 1992, p.1). Almost another 200 million are at risk. Children around the world are dieing from a lack of food. This is terrible for anyone to live with. This is a very important issue that affects everyone on a global level.
Malnutrition is an important subject. I am always so sad by the amount of food our program must throw away because of the USDA rules. I know many of our children get healthy foods at school and very little at home. It is odd that in our country we have an obesity problem because too many families eat unhealthy food and get little to no exercise. Our country (United States) also has a problem with malnutrition with many people not having enough food day to day. How do we fix these problems as a nation?
ReplyDeleteJosie Zbaeren
Hi Josie,
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew the answer to solving this problem but, I do not have a clue. What I do know is that some people are so fortunate for being able to have meals when needed. You are correct, we have to throw away so much food and milk each day when there are people who need that food. It is very wasteful.