HUNGER
...trients from the food that has been eaten. This type of hunger is often due to parasites in the intestinal tract or severe protein deficiency. Malabsorptive hunger is common when there is an absence of medical care and can lead to people loosing up to twenty percent or more food of the nutritional value of their food. Seasonal hunger occurs in many parts of the world annually before each harvest when the food from the last harvest runs out. Until the new crop comes in, people may be hungry for weeks or even months at a time and as a result people may be hungry for weeks or even months at a time and as result people often enter a harvest season too weak to cope with its heavy physical work demand. In those regions hunger is a part of the culture and words describing hunger are a part of everyday language and is viewed as natural part of the annual cycle. The last type of hunger is Famine which is a wide spread lack of access to food that occurs when drought, flood or war disrupts the availability of food in a society. Famine primarily occurs in countries that do not have the infrastructure capacity to compensate for bad weather or political disruption. Famine is the most visible and dramatic manifestation of hunger and is not surprising that it has received greater media attention than the other types of Andujo 3 hunger, but the overwhelming majority of hunger related deaths are caused by the first four hunger conditions. Malnutrition is a general term that indicates a lack of some or all nutritional elements necessary for human health. There are two basic types, the first and most important is protein-energy malnutrition--the lack of enough protein (from meat and other sources) and food that provides energy which all of the basic food groups provide. The second, also very important, is micronutrient (vitamin and mineral) deficiency. Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) is by far the most lethal form of malnutrition/hunger and the one referred to when world hunger is referred to. Approximately 850 million people worldwide are malnourished. Children are the most visible victims of malnutrition which plays a role in at least half of the 10.9 million child deaths each year. Infants and young children are most susceptible to PEM’s characteristic growth impairment because of their high energy and protein needs, and their vulnerability to infection. Globally, children who are poorly nourished suffer up to 160 days of illness each year. Malnutrition magnifies the effect of every disease, including measles and malaria. Protein-energy malnutrition affects every fourth child worldwide. Geographically, more than 70 percent of PEM children live in Asia, 26 percent in Africa and 4 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean. The world produces enough food to feed everyone, world agriculture produces 17 percent more calories per person today than it did 30 years ago, despite a 70 percent population increase. This is enough to provide everyone in the world with at least 2,720 calories per person per day, The principal problem is that many people in the world do Andujo 4 not have sufficient land to grow, or income to purchase, enough food. Poverty is the principal cause of hunger which is caused by lack of resources, an extremely unequal income distribution in the world. There are an estimated 1.08 billion poor people in developing countries who live on $1 a day or less. Of these, an estimated 798 million suffer from chronic hunger, which means that their daily intake of calories is insufficient for them to lead active and healthy lives. Progress in poverty reduction has been concentrated in Asia, and especially, East Asia. In all the other regions, the number of people in extreme poverty has increased. Conflict is the most common cause of hunger and poverty. Worldwide, there were some 17.1 million refugees and displaced persons, in such emergencies, malnutrition runs rampant, increasing the risk of disease and death. By causing poor health, low levels of energy, and even mental impairment, hunger can lead to even greater poverty by reducing people's ability to work. Quite a few trace elements or micronutrients--vitamins and minerals--are important for health. Three--perhaps the most important in terms of current health consequences for poor people in developing countries--are: Vitamin A Vitamin A deficiency can cause night blindness and reduces the body's resistance to disease. In children Vitamin A deficiency can also...