Packing a nutritional punch in fight against malnutrition
NAGPUR: Setting a precedent of sorts, Mahan (Meditation, AIDS, Health, Addiction and Nutrition) Trust has launched an initiative to provide protein rich food to malnourished children in 17 villages of Melghat's tribal area. The venture will continue for three months to try and prevent child deaths, which occur more in the rainy season.
The trust will be preparing food from locally available raw material for 222 Severely Acute Malnourished (SAM) children. The food will be delivered through the arogya doots (village health workers) every two hours. The initiative is part of a pilot project called SAM Management and Nutrition or 'Samman'. It is the first such project of its kind in Asia and, if successful, it will be replicated on a larger scale.
Immediately after the formal launch of the project on Tuesday afternoon, trust director Dr Ashish Satav told TOI that this special food is meant to cover SAM children (grade III and IV) between the ages of 6 months and three years. The food will be prepared by the arogya doots and other supporting staff of Mahan every day in semi-solid and solid form, depending on the child's age and ability to digest it.
"The food package is based on WHO norms for SAM children. We are doing this on an experimental basis to prevent deaths of children, which occur mostly during rainy season. SAM children have been identified using the weight for age formula as per the high court directive issued after a PIL by Mahan," said Dr Satav.
The project, a brain child of Dr Ashish and Kavita Satav, has support from the city's medical fraternity. Paediatrician Dr Vibhawari Dani, former dean of Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), and Mahan treasurer and noted nutritionist Jayashree Pendharkar are actively involved in the venture. Since Mahan works in only 17 of the 321 villages in Melghat region, it is implementing the project in only these villages. But the model can be replicated in other villages too.
Both Dr Dani and Pendharkar regularly visit Mahan villages. They have prepared the plan after a rigorous exercise of assessing various factors associated with malnutrition in the region.
Pendharkar said that some part of the food is being given as ready-to-eat packets keeping in mind the WHO-calorie count criteria for malnourished children. Three different nutritional supplements, of 75 and 100 calories, have been prepared using three different recipes.
Protein Calorie Malnutrition - News
They have prepared the plan after a rigorous exercise of assessing various factors associated with malnutrition in the region. Pendharkar said that some part of the food is being given as ready-to-eat packets keeping in mind the WHO-calorie count
Soon to be situated among the various granola and protein-rich bars already on the shelves at the Boulder Whole Foods locations will be a new bar with a mission: To help end the malnutrition of thousands of children in Africa.
We take more pride than pleasure nowadays in giving our kids calorie-dense confectioneries and ready-to-eat snacks loaded with unwanted preservatives and chemicals. The quality and quantum of nutrients in these eatables are a matter of debate.
“In this age group we see high rates of malnutrition and it is for this reason that we often need to supplement residents' diets with extra protein and energy to ensure they are meeting their nutritional requirements,” she said.
Some may think that eating low-calorie or low-cholesterol food, and refraining from eating meat would automatically make them fit and healthy. But, what they don't know is that doing so will keep them from getting enough nutrients
Protein-Calorie Malnutrition - Meds Database
Protein-Calorie Malnutrition
Protein-calorie malnutrition (PCM), or simply malnutrition, is a pathological condition defined by a body weight less than 85% of ideal, accompanied by biological changes.
A patient should be considered at risk for malnutrition if he meets one or more of the following criteria: (1) unintentional loss of more than 10% of usual body weight in the preceding 3 months, (2) body weight of less than 90% of ideal for height or (3) body mass index (BMI) less than 18.5 kg/m .
With regard to varying levels of severity, body weight of less than 90% of ideal for height represents risk of malnutrition, body weight of less than 85% of ideal constitutes malnutrition, of less than 70% of ideal represents severe malnutrition and of less than 60% of ideal is usually incompatible with survival.
PCM occurs when inadequate protein and/or calories are ingested to meet an individual’s nutritional requirements. PCM may be primary (in developing countries), as a result of lack of food, or secondary (in industrialized nations), as a result of illness.
Body weight. The most obvious manifestation of chronic PCM is loss of body weight. Most patients can tolerate a loss of 5% to 10% without significant consequences, but losses greater than 40% below ideal weight are almost always fatai. Both the adipose tissue and the lean body mass are depleted, but losses of adipose tissue are greater. Extracellular water remains nearly constant, resulting in its relative increase. In severe PCM, the body’s visceral organs also decrease in size. During acute PCM caused by criticai illness, changes in body weight and adipose stores.Heart. Severe PCM results in both quantitative and qualitative changes in the heart: decrease in cardiac stroke volume, cardiac index, left ventricular contractility and compliance, myocardial glycogen, myofibrillar atrophy and interstitial edema. These changes are reversed with nutritional repletion.
Lung. The lung parenchyma is minimally affected during PCM, but marked changes in pulmonary function can occur as a result of the mass and strength loss of the respirating muscles.
Gastrointestinal tract. During severe PCM, gastric motility slows and gastric acid secretion decreases, total small bowel mass diminishes due to mucosal atrophy and loss of vilii and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency can occur.
Liver. In typical secondary PCM, liver mass decreases but its histology remains normal. Serum levels of albumin and other transport proteins commonly go down because of the diminished hepatic synthesis.
Protein Calorie Malnutrition - Bookshelf
Protein-calorie malnutrition
Protein-calorie malnutrition, a Nestlé Foundation symposium
Protein-calorie malnutrition, a Nestlé Foundation symposium ; [Symposium on Protein-Calorie Malnutrition ]
Protein-calorie malnutrition
Protein-calorie malnutrition, a Nestlé Foundation symposium, held in Lausanne from Sept. 6 to 7, 1968
Day-to-day Report Directory
Protein-energy malnutrition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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NutritionMD.org :: Protein-Calorie Malnutrition
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Protein-calorie malnutrition
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Protein-calorie malnutrition (Handbook of Diseases ...
Medical book excerpts about Protein-calorie malnutrition from 'Handbook of Diseases' related to Malnutrition-related diabetes mellitus.
Nutritional Disorders - Protein Calorie Malnutrition
Protein-calorie malnutrition is a direct result of inadequate dietary protein together ... Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) is a major public health problem in ...