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Devastating Food Shortages
January 4, 2013
It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else's eyes.
-Sally Field
-Sally Field
"The struggle that is on display every day... reveals not only the staggering price these children are paying, but also the price it has exacted from Africa. Up to two in five kids across the continent are stunted, researchers estimate, which means that they fall short physically and, even more devastating, mentally. It's a slowdown that creeps across a community, cutting down the human capital, leaving behind a generation of people unable to attain their potential....
"Stunting is the result of having either too few calories, or too little variety in the types of calories consumed, or both.... When a child doesn't receive enough calories, the body prioritizes the needs of vital organs over growth. What this does to the brain is dramatic. A 2007 medical study in Spain compared the CAT scan of a normal 3-year-old child and that of a severely malnourished one. The circumference of the healthy brain is almost twice as large....
"Under the microscope, the permanent damage done to the brain is unmistakable. In an often-cited survey done in Chile, researchers compared brain cells from healthy and malnourished babies. A brain cell from a healthy child looks like a tree in bloom. The one from a stunted infant looks like a tree in winter.
"The branches are the synapses, which connect one brain cell to another. Simply put, the brain cells of a malnourished child are less able to communicate with each other. Researchers have found that height in childhood is directly related to success in adulthood, with a 1 percent loss in height due to stunting leading to a 1.4 percent loss in productivity, according to the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition."
Exchange Resources on Child Health and Nutrition on Sale!
Eight Beginnnings Workshop curriculum kits (online only) are on sale for 24 hours at a 30% discount:
- Child Nutrition: 05/02
- Children's Mental Health: 07/03
- Children's Rights: 05/09
- Fitness and Health: 01/00
- Food and Young Children: 05/06
- Resiliency in Children: 11/99
- Applying Brain Research: 03/99
- Brain Research: 05/98
Sale ends 11:59 PST 01/04/2013
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Comments (2)
Displaying All 2 CommentsEaster Seals WA
Spokane, wa, United States
This was an interesting article, but would have liked to see something at the end of what we can do to help.
spiritchildyoga and RECE
Aurora, ON, Canada
Thanks for this timely article. I think nutrition sometimes gets overlooked. Meanwhile here in North America, we have coroporations fooling parents into feeding our kids brains cheap chemicals. I actually overheard a thirty-something male grocery store employee telling a young stock person, "Why is the stuff even here. Kids shouldn't be eating this s*#t!" Awesome. Awareness and then action is needed on all sides of the issues.
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