‘Malnutrition Needs To Be Eliminated For Accomplishing UN MDGs’- IIMSAM Official Dr. Naseer Homoud

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) January 21, 2011 --

There are currently 195 million children under five years of age in poorer countries whose growth is stunted due to chronic malnutrition, according to a UNICEF report. This tendency highlights the extraordinary suffering caused by entirely preventable illnesses, many of which arise from the basic lack of quality food. While expressing his concern on growing malnutrition rates and this being reasons after several illnesses among children Dr. Naseer said “Under nutrition contributes to more than a third of all deaths in children under five and is often invisible until it is severe, and children who appear healthy may be at grave risk of serious and even permanent damage to their health and development.”

Dr. Naseer Homoud who is Goodwill Ambassador and Director of Middle East office for the Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina against Malnutrition (IIMSAM), the Permanent Observer to the United Nations Economic and Social Council asserted that malnutrition steals a child’s strength and makes illnesses that the body might otherwise fight off far more dangerous. “More than one-third of children who die from pneumonia, diarrhea and other illnesses could have survived had they not been undernourished”. He added. Several reports indicates that several countries, are chronically affected by this menace leaving more than 50 percent of all children are stunted due to malnutrition, according to UN estimates.

Malnutrition is as much a medical problem as it is a social problem because it has major implications for a broad range of issues: a country’s mortality rates, educational prospects, productive employment, and economic capacity, etc. Malnutrition also happens to be one of the principle mechanisms behind the transmission of poverty and inequality from one generation to the next. Dr. Homoud maintained that malnutrition does not happen overnight when individuals, especially older people and children are admitted to hospital where the problem is most likely to be recognized and addressed. Malnutrition can take weeks, even months, to develop and is usually caused by a number of underlying social and medical factors from disease to social isolation, poverty to limited transport. “The problem also has its political issues, as the world is realizing that growing malnutrition and hunger are hurdles in the way of achieving international political stability” Dr. Homoud added.

While speaking on adverse implications of malnutrition Dr. Homoud said “the social and economic consequences of malnutrition are profound, resulting in human misery, lost productivity, and reduced intellectual and learning capacity. In addition to causing individual tragedies like maternal and child death, malnutrition exacts heavy costs on the health care system in terms of higher rates of illness, increased premature delivery, and elevated risks of heart diseases and diabetes”.

Dr. Homoud contended that malnutrition worsens with illness in malnourished children. This compares with the effects of the same illnesses on well-nourished children, who do not become malnourished. “Malnutrition makes children more vulnerable to severe malnutrition if they fall ill, and this, in turn, contributes substantially to the global level of malnutrition that kills if a child is ill," Dr. Homoud said. He added that Spirulina with its abundant features which are scientifically proved and is declared as food for future can be very effective in curbing this menace. "Thus the first step in preventing child death is to make sure that every child is well nourished, which is both scientifically and economically feasible by extensive use of Spirulina” Dr. Homoud added.

Highlighting the importance of Spirulina in fighting undernourishment he outlined firmly that Spirulina has proven medical tendencies which can control malnutrition and that’s too on very low costs involved in production. “Spirulina is a blue-green microalga which is very high in protein content besides having very balanced levels of carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, pigments, and other nutritional ingredients. It can be easily accessible, affordable and consumable” said Dr. Homoud.

While speaking on approach of IIMSAM towards this issue he said “IIMSAM believes that promise in the Millennium Development Goal to reduce hunger and poverty by half by the year 2015 can only be redeemed by serious thinking, planning and action. He added “It’s crucial to build understanding and support among governments and decision makers. The campaign will do this through mobilization, education, and fundraising strategies—efforts that will reinforce a new understanding of malnutrition and build the constituencies needed for lasting change”.

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