Читать книгу The Atlas of Food - Erik Millstone - Страница 24

Nutritional Deficiencies

UNDER-NUTRITION is a major public health problem. It comes in many different forms, and can be caused by an inadequate amount of food, but also by a deficiency of certain nutrients in the diet. Different types of under-nutrition often occur in the same region, and they are almost always associated with poverty. The overall incidence of all kinds of under-nutrition is much higher in developing than in industrialized countries. The type of under-nutrition caused by a shortage of food is called protein-energy malnutrition, and is often associated with infectious diseases, such as measles and diarrhoea. This combination is a major cause of premature death, especially among children in South Asia and Africa. Other kinds of under-nutrition, such as iodine deficiency, are caused by a shortage of specific vitamins and minerals in the diet. Again, other factors often contribute to causing these deficiencies, such as infections and intestinal parasites that, for instance, reduce our ability to absorb nutrients from food. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a major public health problem, affecting 140 million to 250 million pre-school children. It is a leading cause of blindness in developing countries and leaves sufferers at increased risk of infections. Iron deficiency anemia is the most common kind of micro-nutrient deficiency worldwide, and is also prevalent in industrialized countries. Some vitamin deficiency syndromes, including rickets (vitamin D deficiency), scurvy (vitamin C deficiency), pellagra (niacin deficiency) and beri-beri (thiamine deficiency), have been largely eradicated through extensive public health programmes, although they sometimes occur when people are dependent on a restricted supply of foods, such as may occur in refugee camps. International public health bodies continue in their efforts to eradicate the remaining micronutrient deficiencies by, for instance, mass supplementation of vitamin A and iodine. However, under-nutrition caused by shortage of food continues to be a huge problem.

Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD): • affect over 740 million people • are most prevalent in mountainous regions and river plains, where iodine has been leached from the soil by glaciers or floods • causes goitre (enlarged thyroid gland), mental retardation in children and reduced mental capacity in adults • are preventable by, for instance, fortifying salt with iodine

2 Feeding the World

26