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Nutrition is an input to and foundation for health and development. Interaction of infection and malnutrition is well-documented. Better nutrition means stronger immune systems, less illness and better health. Healthy children learn better. Healthy people are stronger, are more productive and more able to create opportunities to gradually break the cycles of both poverty and hunger in a sustainable way. Better nutrition is a prime entry point to ending poverty and a milestone to achieving better quality of life.
Nutrition disorders can be caused by an insufficient intake of food or of certain nutrients, by an inability of the body to absorb and use nutrients, or by over consumption of certain foods. Examples include obesity caused by excess energy intake, anemia caused by insufficient intake of iron, and impaired sight because of inadequate intake of vitamin A. Nutrition disorders can be particularly serious in children, since they interfere with growth and development, and may predispose them to many health problems, such as infection and chronic disease.
Malnutrition is a major health problem, especially in developing countries. Water supply, sanitation and hygiene, given their direct impact on infectious disease, especially diarrhea, are important for preventing malnutrition. Both malnutrition and inadequate water supply and sanitation are linked to poverty. The impact of repeated or persistent diarrhea on nutrition-related poverty and the effect of malnutrition on susceptibility to infectious diarrhea are reinforcing elements of the same vicious circle, especially amongst children in developing countries.
At the other end of the malnutrition scale, obesity is one of today’s most blatantly visible public health problems.
Obesity is a complex condition, one with serious social and psychological dimensions, that affects virtually all age and socioeconomic groups and threatens to overwhelm both developed and developing countries. In 1995, there were an estimated 200 million obese adults worldwide and another 18 million under-five children classified as overweight. As of 2000, the number of obese adults has increased to over 300 million. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the obesity epidemic is not restricted to industrialized societies; in developing countries, it is estimated that over 115 million people suffer from obesity-related problems.
The CauseIndividual nutritional status depends on the interaction between food that is eaten, the overall state of health and the physical environment. Malnutrition is both a medical and a social disorder, often rooted in poverty. Combined with poverty, malnutrition contributes to a downward spiral that is fuelled by an increased burden of disease, stunted development and reduced ability to work. Poor water and sanitation are important determinants in this connection, but sometimes improvements do not benefit the entire population, for example there are many places where only the wealthy can afford better drinking-water supplies or where irrigation is used to produce export crops. In other countries civil conflicts and wars damage water infrastructure and contaminate supplies.
Making Healthy ChoicesIn collaboration with the University of Sydney (Australia), WHO is calculating the worldwide economic impact of being overweight and obese. It is also working with the University of Auckland (New Zealand) to analyze the impact that globalization and rapid socioeconomic transition have on nutrition and to identify the main political, socioeconomic, cultural and physical factors which promote obesogenic environments.
Mission: First of all we need to bring out all the information so that all delegates will be convinced that this an important topic because the negative affects that it has causes problems for rich or poor countries. Our mission is to work out how people can be taught to eat better with the food that is available for them.
Questions: If you have any doubt let it know to
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