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Nutrition
Nutrition
is essential for health and development. Better nutrition
is key in ending poverty and achieving a better quality of
life. Healthy people are more productive and more able to
create opportunities to gradually break cycles of poverty
and hunger sustainably. Most poor people battling hunger are
also faced with chronic under-nourishment and vitamin or mineral
deficiencies. These result in stunted growth, weakness and
increased susceptibility to illness. Underlying issues such
as conflict, climate and HIV/AIDS, aggravate this problem.
Poor nutrition and calorie deficiencies cause nearly one in
three people to die early or have disabilities, according
to the World Health Organization. Malnutrition is a widespread
condition in the developing world that almost always occurs
in people who are undernourished, or do not consume a sufficient
amount of calories and nutrients from food. Malnutrition has
serious consequences for people’s physical and mental
health, and leads to infectious disease. The primary reasons
for malnutrition are poverty and lack of access to food. More
than 800 million people, including 300 million children, are
persistently malnourished due to inadequate diets. Every year,
10 million children die from poverty- related malnutrition
and infections that could be prevented.
Food security at the household level means that the household
should be able meet the nutritional requirements of all of
its members. This can be either through growing its own food
or purchasing it. Food must be of sufficient variety, quality
and safety and shared according to individual needs.
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