Using The Internet To Combat Malnutrition

Editor's Choice
Main Category: Aid / Disasters
Also Included In: Nutrition / Diet;  Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 12 Aug 2011 - 12:00 PDT


Today, WHO (World Health Organization) is launching a new Internet initiative in a bid to stop millions of people dying and suffering from malnutrition. The initiative offers directions for life-saving interventions and assists governments and healthcare providers to combat against all forms of malnutrition.

Nutrition E-library

WHO launched their new e-library of Evidence for Nutrition Actions (eLENA) to coincide with today's start of the three-day Asia regional nutrition meeting in Sri Lanka, The new initiative aids governments to overcome the vast and often conflicting array of evidence and advice for effective, preventive and therapeutic nutrition interventions, one of the biggest challenges in fighting malnutrition.

eLENE helps to tackle these problems by prioritizing and offering the most up-to-date advice on tackling the main three forms of malnutrition: under-nutrition, vitamin and mineral deficiencies as well as overweight and obesity.

Billions affected by malnutrition

Dr Ala Alwan, WHO Assistant Director-General of Non-communicable Diseases and Mental Health said:

"Several billion people are affected by one or more types of malnutrition. Countries need access to the science and evidence-informed guidance to reduce the needless death and suffering associated with malnutrition. eLENA can greatly improve how countries cope with the terrible health threats posed by malnutrition."

Forms of malnutrition

Malnutrition occurs in various forms:

• Underweight - is the main risk factor for several diseases in low-income countries and represents about 6% of the global disease burden
• Childhood underweight - 7% of death (approx. 3.9 million lives) and 10% of the global disease burden are due to micronutrient deficiencies (iron, vitamin A and zinc) and poor breast-feeding
• Micronutrient deficiencies include:
  - Iodine deficiency, which is the world's most common but easily prevented cause of brain damage
  - Anaemia, affecting 1.6 billion people, mostly due to iron deficiency, increases the risk of low-birth-weights and pregnancy anaemia and is linked to 18% of maternal deaths
  - Vitamin A deficiency, occurs in 190 million preschool children
  - Zinc deficiency, potentially affects the immune system and causes death in 430,000 children per year
• Overweight and obesity: approximately 1.5 billion adults 20 years or older are overweight or obese. Global estimates indicate more than 40 million children under the age of 5 years are already overweight or obese.

How to tackle malnutrition

eLENA explains which effective health interventions are necessary to overcome malnutrition. Measures include appropriate treatment of severe acute malnutrition; promoting breastfeeding as well as fortifying staple foods with vitamins and minerals such as iron and folic acid for wheat and maize flours. The system recommends using multiple micronutrient powders to fortify foods for infants between 6 and 23 months and proposes daily iron and folic supplements for pregnant women in order to prevent anemia, as well as suggesting intermittent iron and folic acid supplements for menstruating women and children of preschool and school age.

Dr Francesco Branca, WHO Director of Nutrition for Health and Development comments:

"To create eLENA, we have sifted through thousands of pages of scientific evidence and advice to prioritize, justify and better present the kinds of nutrition actions needed to prevent people succumbing to the many forms of malnutrition."

The new eLENA tool represents an important part of WHO's global drive for the prevention and control of malnutrition in various countries. WHO is the main driving force of the "Scaling up Nutrition" movement, which consists of numerous United Nations agencies and other key nutrition stakeholders. The movement's target is global assistance in tackling malnutrition and ensuring response, including agriculture, health, social protection and ensuring food and security sectors.

The eLENA concept is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Canada-based Micronutrient Initiative and the Government of Luxembourg.

Written by Petra Rattue
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

• Additional
• References
• Citations