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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:A review of malnutrition in Africa
Author:Anonymous
Year:1991
Periodical:Rural Progress: Bulletin of the Economic Commission for Africa
Volume:10
Issue:1
Pages:29-47
Language:English
Geographic term:Africa
Subject:malnutrition
Abstract:This paper briefly reviews the extent of the problem of malnutrition in Africa and its impact. Hunger and malnutrition continue to be widespread in the African region. The consequences of such widespread malnutrition are grave and its causes are complex. The linkages between food production, food availability, food consumption and nutritional status are neither simple nor direct. Overall there appears to be enough food available in Africa to meet the population's needs. However, it is clearly not available to everyone. The problem is one of the economic entitlement and physical access to the available supplies. The most serious nutritional problem in Africa is protein-energy malnutrition, generally due to inadequate quantities of food being available to the individual sufferer. Other micronutrient deficiencies such as vitamins and minerals are also common and each is expressed via particular deficiency disease syndromes. Malnutrition results from a complex interaction of social, political, economic and environmental forces that combine to prevent the poor and other disadvantaged segments of the population (women, children) from acquiring and effectively utilizing enough food to meet their nutritional requirements. Chronic malnutrition undermines productivity, results in less than optimal utilization of potential human resources, and perpetuates the vicious cycle of poverty, malnutrition and disease. Notes, ref.
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