Malnutrition and Disease

Explain the connection between nutrition and disease. Be sure to include information on chronic diseases, as well as malnutrition and other leading causes of death.

There are almost 2 billion people in the world who, although, consume enough calories, still lace the variety and quality of foods to provide sufficient dietary intake (Sizer & Whitney, 2017). This can lead to body system failures such as insufficient stores of iron, iodine, vitamin A and zinc, which are those that can lead to severity of disease and include mental retardation, immunity impairment, blindness, learning disabilities, and even death. 

The scope as outlined in (Sizer & Whitney, 2017), is horrific and impossible to imagine: 

• 40 percent of women in the developing world suffer poor health and debilitation fatigue from iron deficiency. 
• 50,000 women a year die during childbirth due to severe anemia
• 18 million newborns every year have irreversible mental retardation from iron deficiency
• Half a million (younger than 5) become permanently blind due to severe vitamin A deficiency. 
• Over 100 million or more have marginally poor status that reduces resistance to infections such as measles. 



Hunger in the United States

• 25 percent of the world's population suffers from zinc deficiency that contributes to growth failure, diarrhea, and pneumonia

Sadly, each year 3.1 million children (6 per minute) die as a result of poor nutrition and world wise this is a staggering amount, and most just simply starve to death. Children living with chronic malnutrition which is a greater number worldwide, subsist on very scant energy food and even less protein (Sizer & Whitney, 2017). They lack the nutrients to grow normally and it is often irreversible. They suffer from increased risk of infections and disease. 

If not fully nourished, a child's brain will not grow to its normal adult size and growth is stunted because they lack the nutrients children need to grow normally.

Sizer, F. & Whitney, E. (2017). Nutrition: Concepts and controversies (14th ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
ISBN-13: 978-1-30563937-9, ISBN-10: 1-305-63937-5

https://ourworldindata.org/hunger-and-undernourishment