body-container-line-1
31.01.2010 Feature Article

HEALTH AND NUTRITION: kick Protein-Calorie Malnutrition (PCM) out of Africa

HEALTH AND NUTRITION: kick Protein-Calorie Malnutrition PCM out of Africa
31.01.2010 LISTEN

It has been estimated that 200million Africans are chronically malnourished. This is due to multiplicity of factors; from conflicts to bad climate and inflation. Other factors include over-consumption and under-consumption of calories, problems most attributable to the west and developing countries respectively. That notwithstanding, there are people in developing countries that suffer from over-nutrition. For example, most of the 'Makola' women (market women) in Ghana are typically noted for this type of malnutrition. These women regularly exercise to burn-out some calories out of their bodies; they sit behind their food stuffs almost the whole day and eating more of calorie rich foods and walking less hence, they are obese.

Malnutrition is defined by the Pan English dictionary as poor nutrition due to lack of the correct foods, especially protein and vitamins. Furthermore, some nutritionists have defined it as the overconsumption or under-consumption of any essential nutrient. It is really a challenge, especially, in Africa where the purchasing power of the people is so low that they lack access to adequate food. Adequacy here as to do with foods rich in all the essential nutrients the body needs to grow healthy and develop well; it has little to do with quantity but more to do with quality. There are many forms of malnutrition, in this case under-nutrition; one of these is Protein-Calorie Malnutrition or PCM.

Protein-Calorie Malnutrition is undoubtedly the problem of low-income families or countries never the problem of the rich. Developing countries are most affected; where the larger size of the population lives below the poverty lines. Even average-income earners can barely survive this unless they cut down expenditure on other important needs and increase the budget for food. Protein is more expensive than Carbohydrates and, of course, calories for that reason, therefore, the poor may not just have the right amount of protein needed for proper growth and development. This is why protein deficiency illness like 'Kwashiorkor' is prevalent among the poor.

However, the poor can survive this if they take in the right quantity of edible seeds that are grain if they cannot readily afford those that are of the legumes family. Remember, I said adequacy has little to do with quantity, yes, but I did not say it has nothing to do with quantity. When Calorie-rich food are eaten in the right quantity it compensates quiet significantly for the absence of legumes like beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, and soy beans, which is also the cheapest source of protein though it contains the highest amount of protein (about 34.1%).

God by wisdom made provision for the poor and Jesus was right when He said, “The poor you have with you always…” We will always have the poor with us because God had made provision to cater for them during hard times. What do I mean? Cereals like Wheat, Rice, Sorghum, and millet are rich in calories must also contains helpful amounts of proteins where as legumes like the beans and the others mentioned above contain high amounts of protein and yet have no calories. This means grains have two-in-one essential nutrients for growth and development. The poor can always and most readily afford grains. No wonder, in most humanitarian food aids meted out from richer countries to poorer countries or from NGOs to the under-privileged is in grains, because though they are cheaper than proteins they contain certain amounts of protein. For instance, millet contains 9.9% of protein yet a very rich source of calories.

Africa can be washed of diseases like Kwashiorkor and marasmus if the poor can feed their children with the right quantities of Calories even if they have no access to proteins. There is hope, the challenge is ignorance. More can be done to decrease the intensity of this type of malnutrition. Policies geared towards food security must factor-in the poor and consider their inaccessibility to proteins due to financial constraints and make it affordable for all. Even if this means large farms will be given to farmers whose specialty will be in the cultivations of leguminous edible seeds for the sake of the poor.

Fidel Y. Tetteh
ModernGhana.Com

body-container-line