Malnutrition in the OIC Member

Countries: A Trap for Poverty

such as Turkey, India, Egypt, China, Libya, and Lebanon are vitamin D deficient owing to the

practice of shrouding, avoidance of skin exposure to sunlight, and the fact that few foods are

fortified with vitamin D (Hollick, 2006).

Overweight and Obesity

Overweight and obesity is an issue which is becoming a major public health concern in both

developed and developing countries. Whereas in previous years undernutrition was the major

concern in low income countries, there has been a nutrition transition and it is becoming

common to observe both under and overnutrition within the same country, community and

even within the same household.

Whilst the change in diets, away from traditional and towards more westernised foods is a

major factor in the increase in overweight and obesity, there are a number of factors linked to

maternal nutrition which affect the propensity for a child to become overweight.

Birthweight and linear growth retardation are positively related to adult lean mass, meaning

that babies who are born small are less likely to become lean adults. Overweight and obesity

are risk factors for a plethora of non-communicable diseases including diabetes,

cardiovascular disease and some cancers (breast, colon). Maternal overweight and obesity can

also cause significant birth complications and pregnancy related disorders like pre-eclampsia

and gestational diabetes. During labour and delivery, maternal obesity is related to maternal

death, haemorrhage and a higher risk of infant death (Black et al., 2013).

It is now understood that poor nutrition in early childhood may also be a factor in overweight

and obesity later in life. Lower birth weight and stunting both relate to central adiposity (fat

carried around the middle of the body) and higher waist circumference. Both are risk factors

for metabolic syndrome, increasing the risk of diabetes and with lifelong effects on the risk of

cardiovascular disease (Victoria, C. 2008).

Maternal overweight and obesity during pregnancy also increases the risk of childhood obesity

that continues into adolescence and adult life. This leads into another intergenerational cycle

of malnutrition.

The consequences of early childhood undernutrition in terms of overweight and obesity later

in life are particularly important when taken in the context of the nutrition transition to high

fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) foods. Children who are undernourished in the first 2 years of life

and who put on weight rapidly later in childhood and in adolescence are at high risk of chronic

diseases related to nutrition (Victora et al., 2008). This finding has significant implications for

countries where the diets are transitioning from traditional foods to western HFSS foods and

physical activity levels are decreasing.

Undernutrition

Babies born at term (i.e. who have completed 37 weeks of gestation), but of low birthweight

(less than 2.5 kg) are likely to have had their growth restricted whilst in utero. This is of public

health significance because infants born at term weighing 1.5-1.99kg were over 8 times more

likely to die, and those weighing 2-2.49 kg were 2-8 times more likely to die during the

neonatal period than were those weighing more than 2.5kg at birth (Black et al, 2008).

Maternal body size is strongly associated with the size of new-born children, with short stature