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Nutrition in Development and
Crisis
Nutrition Action in Emergencies
and Post-emergencies
Nutrition is a key public health
concern in emergency management. Most emergencies result in food shortages
and impair or jeopardize the nutritional status of the community. The
functions of a nutrition program in emergencies relate to nutritional
surveillance in terms of identification of the nutritionally vulnerable groups
and food supplementation. Infants, children, pregnant women, nursing mothers
and sick persons are the vulnerable groups which need immediate attention and
support. Nutrition related interventions should be undertaken as an integral
part of a comprehensive approach to emergency management in affected areas.
Community
based management of Severe Acute
Malnutrition (SAM)
Malnutrition
contributes to about half of all under five child mortality. SAM is a life
threatening condition requiring urgent attention. Until recently, treatment
has been restricted to facility-based approaches, greatly limiting its
coverage and impact. New evidence suggests, however, that large numbers of
children with severe acute malnutrition can be treated in their communities
without being admitted to a health facility or a therapeutic feeding centre.
The community-based approach involves timely detection of severe acute
malnutrition in the community and provision of treatment for those without
medical complications through a diet based approach at home. If properly
combined with a facility-based approach for those malnourished children with
medical complications or below 6 months and implemented on a large scale,
community-based management of severe acute malnutrition could prevent the deaths
of hundreds of thousands of children.
According
to the National Family Health Survey-3 (2005-’06), about 6.4% children under
five years of age in India
are severely acutely malnourished
Promoting adequate nutrition for
people living with HIV/AIDS
Nutritional care and support
should be an integral element of any HIV/AIDS management package. There are
complex interactions between nutrition and HIV/AIDS. Nutritional status may
affect the progression of HIV disease in adults and the survival of HIV infected
people. While, HIV affects the
nutritional status of the body due to impaired nutrient absorption, changes
in metabolism and decrease in the amount of food consumed (Causes of
decreased food intake are mouth and throat sores, loss of appetite leading to
fatigue, depression and changes in mental state, side effects from
medication, abdominal pain and household food insecurity and poverty).
Useful Links
http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/emergencies/en/index.html
http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/malnutrition/en/index.html
http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/hivaids/en/index.html
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