Malnutrition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Malnutrition - Essay ExampleThe see focused primarily on children under the hop on of five and their caregivers. The sample population consisted of 1978 caregivers and 2201 children. Through a survey consisting of structured questionnaires, the researchers sought the caregivers input regarding their feeding practices, and this information, coupled with anthropometric measurements, helped the researchers to deduce the childrens overall nutrition and health status. The researchers discovered at least five prominent health-related problems that affected the children. These problems accommodated general stunting among the children as a massive proportion of the children were underweight and wasting. Secondly, the researchers discovered that caregivers in the 7 counties breastfed their children for shortly durations particularly among children below 36 months. Another unfavourable issue discovered in the counties was the lack of exclusivity in breastfeeding children under 6 months. With regard to breastfeeding, the researchers further discovered low prevalence of sustained breastfeeding up to the age of one year. Another critical problem was the inadequate delivery of complementary foods to some infants aged between 6 and 8 months. The last major issue discovered through the research was an increased prevalence of stunting among children who had never received breast milk, as well as those who had not been breastfed for at least 1 year. In addition, it was discovered that stunting was quite prevalent among children whose feeding practices comprised primarily of poor caliber semi-solid foods (Zhou, Wang, Ye, Zeng & Wang, 2012). Based on these issues and findings, the researchers determined that poor feeding practices such as lack of exclusive breastfeeding for at least the first 6 months, proviso of complementary foods between 6 and 8 months, or provision of poor quality foods, were the primary causes of malnutrition among most children in the 7 counties of China. The primary themes discussed in the article include poverty and ignorance, which detrimentally affect caregivers provision of superior quality nutrition to their children, particularly those under the critical age of 5 years. The authors hypothesize that there is a close link between poverty and ignorance on the feeding practices of children, and this subsequently results in malnutrition. As a consequence, Zhou, Wang, Ye, Zeng & Wang (2012) proposed the implementation of additional programs to enhance the level of experience on effective feeding practices among caregivers. The researchers further suggested that these programs should be implemented in all remote and barren regions of China so as to improve the overall health of children under the age of 5 years. The airfields main strength lies in its execution. The study comprises of comprehensive sections that examine different aspects that play a part in asserting the studys hypothesis. The study, therefore, manages to affirm its hypothesis showing that there is a close link between feeding practices of children below 5 years of age and malnutrition (Zhou, Wang, Ye, Zeng & Wang, 2012). However, the studys primary weakness involves the ethical requirement of informed consent for all participants. Although the researchers give details of the summate of participants and the form of questioning used to