Question

Anthropology: What are the social and environmental conditions that lead to child malnutrition in malawi according to pattern?

Answer 1

• Many researchers agree that socio-economic and environmental conditions, together with feeding practices, are important determinants of malnutrition in developing countries. Inadequate quantity and poor quality of food result in growth faltering, which is exacerbated by the high prevalence of fevers and diarrhoeal diseases. Inappropriate feeding patterns may also contribute to child malnutrition. Malnutrition is thought to be one of the factors contributing to the high level of child mortality in Malawi, where nearly one-quarter of all children die before they reach their fifth birthday.
• The results of the 1992 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey showed that about half of under-five children were stunted and about 27% were underweight. These levels of stunting and underweight were identical to those obtained from the 1980-81 National Sample Survey of Agriculture, suggesting that levels of malnutrition have remained the same for at least a decade.
• One possible reason for the prevailing high levels of malnutrition in Malawi is poverty, since it is estimated that about 60% of the population live below the poverty line. The results of a recent study support this, since they showed that Malawian children from higher socio-economic backgrounds had anthropometric measures that were comparable to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reference population.
• The Malawian economy is largely based on agriculture, and the main exports are tobacco, tea, and sugar. About 88% of the population live in rural areas where they practise subsistence farming on small farms, using traditional labour-intensive methods. Consequently, as many as 70% of the subsistence farmers do not produce enough food.
• The price of maize, the staple food, is high relative to wages. In 1992 the price of a bag of maize sufficient to feed an average family of about five persons for one month was between 70% and 120% of the minimum monthly wage. Breastfeeding is almost universal and is carried on for an average period of about 21 months, but complementary feeding is introduced much too early.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that children under the age of four months be exclusively breastfed, but only 3% of such children were being exclusively breastfed during the 1992 Malawi and Demographic and Health Survey. The early introduction of complementary food is undesirable, particularly in a developing country such as Malawi, since the typical weaning food is of poorer quality than breastmilk and may be contaminated.
• The major diseases of children in Malawi are malaria, diarrhoea, and respiratory diseases, particularly pneumonia. Illness affects the nutritional status of children, since it depresses a child’s appetite and reduces the absorption of nutrients, but increases the energy requirement. In addition, nutrients are lost through vomiting or diarrhoea.
• On the other hand, it can be argued that undernourished children are more prone to infection, so that the relationship between infection and malnourishment goes in a vicious cycle.