Briefly discuss nutrient deficiencies in the developing world. Then discuss how these nutrient deficiencies affect not only individuals but entire nations.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

A child suffering from a nutrient deficiency may continue to grow, but without adequate nourishment, body functions begin to fail and signs of deficiency diseases become apparent. Problems resulting from nutrient deficiencies include birth defects, learning disabilities, intellectual disability, impaired immunity, blindness, incapacity to work, and premature deaths. Nutrients most likely to be deficient are iron, iodine, vitamin A, and zinc. The prevalence and consequences of these nutrient deficiencies stagger the mind. More than 25 percent of the world’s population have iron-deficiency anemia, a leading cause of maternal deaths, preterm births, low birthweights, infections, and premature deaths. Iodine deficiency affects one out of seven, resulting in stillbirths and irreversible intellectual disability (cretinism) in 40 million newborns every year. More than 100 million children (younger than age 5) suffer from symptoms of vitamin A deficiency—blindness, growth retardation, and poor resistance to common childhood infections such as measles. An estimated 20 percent of the world’s population risk zinc deficiency, which contributes to growth failure, diarrhea, and pneumonia.
The consequences of nutrient deficiencies are felt not only by individuals but also by entire nations. When people suffer from intellectual disability, blindness, infections, and other consequences of malnutrition, the economy of their country declines as productivity decreases and health-care costs increase. The dramatic signs of malnutrition are most evident at each end of the life span in a nation’s high infant mortality rate and short life expectancy.