Nutrition

Introduction

Many children do not get enough of the right food to eat. They do not grow well, they become ill, many die or they do not grow up as clever, as healthy.

Causes and consequences of poor nutrition are better understood now, and so are the ways to prevent and manage it. Low food intake and infections are the immediate causes of malnutrition.

The underlying causes are insufficient household food security, inadequate childcare and insufficient basic health services in the community. It includes poor living conditions, lack of education, heavy physical work, and frequent childbearing. And the basic causes are economic structure, political and ideological superstructure.

The mortality among preschool children is extremely high in developing countries in general. It is quite clear that malnutrition in combination with infection, more often than not is, the cause of high morbidity and mortality in Somalia.

Micronutrient deficiencies such as vitamin A, iodine and iron are the most prevalent in Somalia and it affects mothers and children at large.