Agence France-PresseFeb 16, 2021 11:02:16 IST
Malnourished children suffering from stunting could cause intestinal damage with increased exposure to pathogens that reduce their ability to absorb nutrients, according to research Monday calling for longer-lasting treatments than providing extra food. Despite a nearly 40 percent drop from 1990 to 2015 of stunting in poor countries, some 140 million children four or younger are still too short for age, a clinical condition that impedes both development brain and body.
A mother feeds her child with malnutrition at the Sheopur district Nutrition Rehabilitation Center in Madhya Pradesh. India ranked 65th out of 84 countries in the 2009 World Hunger Index, under countries including North Korea and Zimbabwe a decade ago. Reuters
Researchers, who studied more than 300 children in Zambia, found evidence that reduced nutrition may be caused by survival mechanism in the gut caused by close exposure to microbial pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses and parasites.
“It would seem obvious that food is the appropriate treatment for malnutrition, and clearly without food one cannot overcome malnutrition,” said co-author Paul Kelly, professor of tropical gastroenterology at Queen Mary University of London. “But that’s often not enough. As soon as children in unbalanced numbers become clinically malnourished, giving extra food is not enough to make them fit. better. “
Despite a nearly 40 percent drop from 1990 to 2015 of stunting in poor countries, some 140 million children four or younger are still too short for age, a clinical condition that impedes both development brain and body. And for millions of children in parts of Africa and South Asia, the study said gut damage caused by environmental factors contributes significantly to stunting.
Previous research has shown that a proportion of children remain unaffected by food and hygiene interventions, Kelly said.
For the latest study, which looked at babies in Lusaka, Zambia from 2016 to 2019, researchers used endoscopy and microscopy to assess intestinal health. They found “very severe infectious weight” with gut pathogens, Kelly said.
He said it surprised researchers to find evidence that the gut’s adaptation to these pathogens alters the process by which gut bacteria can enter the body’s circulation and stimulate inflammation.
But in keeping off the pathogens, the response could also lead to a reduced ability for the body to absorb nutrients from food.
“In other words, stunting is the price you pay to survive,” said Kelly, adding that this should change the way stunting is handled. quieter about solving this changing response than just giving extra allowances. “