Degrees of Malnutrition

Acute Malnutrition
Occurs in situations of famine due to poor crops, war or natural disaster, this is the most severe form of hunger, but not the most common

Chronic Malnutrition
Affects one in five people in the developing world. Occurs when people do not get the nutrients needed to sustain normal growth over a long period of time. This is by far the greatest cause of death in the world.

Stunting
A measure of undernourishment. Children who may look normal are small for their age: 50% of children in the least developed countries suffer moderate to severe stunting.

Solutions to Hunger in Developing Countries

Tree planting to revitalize agricultural land by increasing soil fertility and preventing erosion.

Also, these trees, once grown, can provide fuel for cooking.

Back yard farming can allow for families to provide themselves with the food they need to support themselves.

Skills training and small scale loans are also beneficial in finding the solution to hunger in developing countries

Solutions to Hunger in Canada

Food Banks: Locations where food can be accessed by people who need it. This food is usually donated by individuals and organizations.

Community Gardens: When a community grows a vegetable garden collectively and the produce is shared among the community

Food Access Grants: Social Service agencies are provided with grants for food access to make good-quality food more available to people.

Community Kitchens: Large amounts of food is cooked by groups of people to reduce the costs of food for all.

Canadian Hunger

Concerns about food security in Canada are steadily rising and have had such a trend since the late 1980's. It is estimated at 8% of Canada's population is food insecure. This is approximately 2.3 million households across the country. Between the years 1989 and 2002, the Hunger Count nearly doubled with 359000 families being added.

Implications for Health and Development:

• Hunger and malnutrition are the leading cause of death in the developing world
• Half of all childhood deaths are a result of being underweight
• Direct costs: caring for the sick, food interventions etc.
• Indirect costs:toll of disease and general ill-health on productive capabilities 
• Economic decline

The Degrees of Hunger

ACUTE = Severe hunger and malnutrition to the point that lives are threatened immediately (ie. famine)

CHRONIC = ability to meet food needs is consistently threatened (due to either inability to produce enough food or purchase enough food on a regular basis)

OCCASIONAL = when food insecurity occurs due to a specific temporary circumstance when one would otherwise be food secure.

Staple Foods

Staple foods are foods which are eaten regularly and in large enough amounts that they comprise the major part of a person's energy. Traditionally, cereals and vegetable crops are the staple foods as they grown in a particular region. Examples of cereal staples are rice, wheat, maize, millet and sorghum. Sample food of roots and tubers are cassava, potatoes, yams and taro. Animal products such as meat, milk, eggs, fish and cheese are also a type of staple food.