Malnutrition on babies in haiti

Public health has also deteriorated, and the country's resources have been shifted to handling the hunger menace hence depriving the health sector the necessary funding. Disasters like cholera and earthquakes have also contributed to the worsening of the situation to a greater extent. Notably, the global estimates for demographics indicate that about 165 million are children who are under the age of five years, and out of the total number of children, about 52 million children are malnourished (Ayoya, 389). However, a study done in 2010 indicated that the highest number of the affected children lives in Haiti; therefore, Haiti has the highest index in the ‘global burden of disease. ' Haiti has a population of 10 million people whereby 1. The figures are discouraging as per the global standards set by institutions and organization like the World health organization and the World Bank.

It is a situation that has escalated to uncontrollable levels that will require the help of the international community to intervene to achieve positive results in the long run. Notably, Haiti was the first country to be led by the Black people, and it was the first nation to regain independence in the Caribbean region. During its independence, it overthrew the French colonial masters and took over the control of the country and the slave trade that was run by the French nationals (“U. S. Thus women and children are the most vulnerable groups that have been affected by malnutrition. The effects of malnutrition have also been evident in the health sector; the health units are understaffed, and the retention rate of the experienced and skilled workers is low.

Many opt to migrate to other countries where they can get decent pay and also evade the undernutrition situation in the country (Jerome and Louise 68). In the 2013 survey report, about 60% of the people depend on agriculture as their main source of livelihood which accounts for 25% of the total gross domestic product of the country. Notably, the figure was at 40% in 1990; hence the output from the sector has significantly reduced ("Haiti Must Redouble Efforts to Boost Agriculture; Cannot Afford to Fail" n. Most homes are still broken; waterways contaminated and the development of children in Haiti has remained malnourished due to this disaster. People were forced to move to refugee camps and in tents where there were security and access to relief food.

The earthquake was the biggest blow to the economy in the history of natural disasters; it left the country in poverty unable to make any steps towards food security. The most affected groups are the children under the age of five years, lactating mothers and pregnant mothers. This is due to insufficient maternal care and nutrition throughout the country, lack of proper feeding for the infants and lack of macronutrient variety to promote the general health of the people. However, this is not the case in Haiti; pregnant mothers have poor health and also suffer from undernutrition that affects the fetus development. Most the babies are born underweight while some have underdeveloped body organ and most of them die due to malnutrition before they reach the age of five years (Neelsen and Thomas 479).

Besides, the mothers live in areas with poor sanitation, lack of sufficient food and insecurity; hence there health deteriorates to a level whereby they cannot produce enough breast milk to feed the newborn babies. 1 Thesis statement Malnutrition is a chief challenge for the health for children and pregnant mothers in Haiti; it occurs due to inadequate intake of micronutrients like vitamins and proteins resulting in disorders and frequent infections. It also occurs due to excessive poverty, poor leadership, the prevalence of HIV/Aids and occurrence of natural disasters that wreak havoc in the country making the children and women most vulnerable. Notably, the government has put in efforts to revamp the health sectors, agricultural sector, improve on policies regarding food security, seek help from other nations and increase disaster preparedness.

The steps made so far are still not sufficient to eliminate or reduce the level of malnutrition among children in the country; the situation is worsening every day, but there is hope in resilience. 3 Research Objectives To determine the hormones that unborn babies need from the mother to develop fully To analyze the effect of malnutrition to the fetus and the infant babies To evaluate the solution that the Haiti government have put in place to fight the problem of malnutrition in children To analyze the factors that deprive mothers of the knowledge to understand the child's dietary needs for growth and development 1. 4 Research Questions What are the hormones that facilitate the growth and development of the fetus? What is the impact of malnutrition on the fetus and infant babies? What are some of the solutions that the Haiti government has put in place to reduce or eliminate malnutrition among children in the country? What are the factors that deprive mothers of the knowledge to understand the child’s dietary needs for growth and development? 1.

5 Significance o the study Malnutrition has dire consequences to the growth and survival of children in the country. CHAPTER TWO 2. 0 LITERATURE REVIEW The chapter aims to discuss the major concepts concerning malnutrition problem affecting the children under the age of five years in Haiti. It majorly draws from the previous conceptual and empirical framework data provided in research works written by other scholars on the same issue. Section one the chapter outlines the hormones necessary for them in the mother's body to sustain the pregnancy to full term and the hormones that facilitate the growth of the fetus. Section two covers the impact of malnutrition on the development of the fetus and the children under the age of five years. The progesterone is produced from the corpus lutem glands and serves a variety of function in ensuring the establishment of the pregnancy to full term (Arck et al.

The progesterone increases blood circulation to the womb promoting the development of blood vessels both new and existing ones to ensure the baby gets enough blood. The hormone also stimulates the glands found on the lining of the womb to produce the necessary nutrients that the embryo requires to sustain itself. Finally, it initiates the growth of the endocrine membrane and become thick and then produces decidua which provides a point of attachment for the placenta. It then enhances the establishment of the placenta once it gets the point of attachment. The hormones respond accordingly to the baby's need for certain nutrients by communicating t the mother’s body (“Hormones and fetal growth” n. p). A variety of hormones play a major role in regulating the growth and development of the fetus.

However, some hormones counter this growth hence the need for hormonal balance by the mother taking the appropriate foods that have the nutritional values needed by the baby. In determining the weigh to the baby, the hormones prevent the overgrowing of the baby and also undergrowth by regulating the supply of nutrients that pass through the placenta into the baby. Lack of quality and quantity nutrition when she is pregnant results in adverse health challenges for the baby later in life. The situation leads to increased risk of hypertension, anaemia, and miscarriage if the malnutrition is severe (Scott et al. Reports of fetal deaths during pregnancy have also been rampant in the country, besides premature delivery and increased rate of maternal mortality.

Furthermore, the baby’s immune system is adversely affected making it more vulnerable to infection; this translates to high medical costs when the baby is born to ensure it survives and lives a healthy life. Essentially, undernutrition during pregnancy affects both the mother and the baby, but the baby is more affected because it is in a critical stage of development (“Mother and Infant Nutrition” n. Studies indicate the fetus is more vulnerable hence its survival and development of the organs highly depend on the woman’s healthy (Castrogivanni and Rosa 30). Deficiency of inadequacy of the relevant nutrients causes retardation in the growth of the organs hence the need for any food security program to target pregnant mothers first as well as young children under the age of five years.

Similarly, lack of folate nutrient for the fetus causes underdevelopment of the neural tube that leads to ‘spina bifida’ while calcium affects the development of the skeletal structure of the embryo. Lack of iron results in maternal anaemic thus restricting the growth of the fetus that leads to low birth weight and also limits the absorption of the folate nutrient. 2 On the development of the child Malnutrition in children is the primary cause of under-five mortality in Haiti; this is due to the increased vulnerability to infections and slowed rate of recovery whenever an infection occurs. Lack of sufficient micronutrients like vitamins and mineral elements also have dire effects on body development. For instance, iron deficiency leads to anaemia and low red blood cells count in then body whole low levels of vitamin C results to scurvy that causes discolouration of the skin and long periods of apathy.

A prolonged period of malnutrition during childhood affects the intellectual development of the child and lowers social competence as well as adaptive behaviour. Thus it affects the learning abilities of the child when he starts schooling (Bush et al. It also changes the country's economic productivity level; children with impaired development cannot grow into adults that are physically or mentally productive in any sector. Therefore, to achieve meaningful change, the country is committed to revamping the agricultural sector in the country. For a long time farming had formed the backbone of the country’s economy, but the occurrence of the 2010 earthquake and long periods of drought rendered the country unable to feed itself sufficiently. The government in conjunction with USAID through the "feed the future initiative" works closely with farmers by providing them with modernized equipment and giving them the required knowledge to increase their farm output (Fuller Wimbush and Fils 8).

The farmers also get facilitated with inputs and experts assigned to them to help through the process until the harvesting season arrive. Infrastructure around areas that support agriculture has been improved and where no changes have been made plans are underway. It also destroyed a lot of resources stripping many national of any wealth they had, hence, the refugee camps, and relief tents were the only places people could find safety and food. The increased number of people who depended on relief food drained the country's resources rendering it unable to achieve food security. Furthermore, frequent droughts and storms made most parts of the country unfit for agricultural activities. Research indicates that for any country to achieve food security investment in the farming sector is inevitable since reliance on imports and relief is not enough, but for Haiti, it was the only viable solution at hand (Oliver-Smith 32).

Another challenge is the increased rural to urban migration. It involved a systemic analysis of the literature material that other experts have written on the problem of malnutrition in Haiti (Oliver 2). Besides government publications, reports by research institutes, humanitarian organization and the international financial institution like the IMF and World Bank came in hand during the analysis. The problem of malnutrition in the country has existed for many years, and many researchers have researched the issues over and over again; hence the available data is sufficient. The data from scholarly writing and reports written by different people, organizations, and institution are adequate to analyze the malnutrition situation in the country, get findings and draw recommendations and conclusions. Essentially, a combination of the secondary is economical, comprehensive and provides more insight into the problem than relying solely on the collection of primary data alone.

To get the physical data the nutritional status of the children was determined by comparing it with the normative mean which led to the determination of its prevalence in the country. Notably, the cases that were acute or chronic, the data got quantified by use of anthropometric tools like z-scores. To get the children who were at high risk of malnutrition and needed priority in attention, indicators of nutrition based were used. The data was collected with the help of health officials and nurses after approval from the university board and the state medical office. CHAPTER FOUR 4. The health workers in the country provided counselling services to pregnant mothers to help them provide enough complementary meals to the infant beside breastfeeding.

2 Discussions The effects of malnutrition may be non-reversible, and it is not only the children that are affected but the whole community. The cause is permanent because of their cognitive and physical developments impaired (Bush et al. The findings indicate the widespread malnutrition in the country is due to the infrastructure and geographical location. Therefore, if the government and the humanitarian organization can accurately determine which location are at risk, the long term effects of starvation and malnutrition can be avoided. 0 CONCLUSION In the history of Haiti, malnutrition among the children as well as pregnant women has been the biggest challenge for the country. These two groups of people in the community have been the most vulnerable to the problem since they all need someone to take care of them to survive.

Pregnant mother who lacked enough food nutrients in the bodies gave birth to underweight babies and even somebody features that were not fully formed. When nutrients like iron, foliate, proteins and the vitamin are insufficient the physical and mental development of the baby are heavily impaired. Besides major body organs like the liver, brain and lungs may not fully form resulting in complication and disorder later in life. The situation deprives the nation of the necessary workforce hence reducing production. Also, in the long run, the health of the children will be affected; they will lack strength, have low learning abilities hence also depriving the country of the necessary skills to run the different sectors of the economy. The Haiti government in conjunction with the international community has made reforms in policies, strategies, food program and increased investment to ensure there is food security in the country.

The effects of malnutrition are devastating, and the government is committed to eliminating or reducing change. However, the changes made so far are insignificant, but it is an important step made currently. org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2012-10-15/haiti-must-redouble-efforts-boost-agriculture-cannot-afford-fail. Accessed 11 Apr. "Haiti: Nutrition Profile. " U. S. worldbank. org/en/country/haiti/overview. Accessed 11 Apr. Alvarez, Jose Luis, et al. "Putting child kwashiorkor on the map. "Assessing childhood malnutrition in Haiti: Meeting the United Nations Millennium Development Goal# 4. " Global Journal of Medicine and Public Health 4. Castrogiovanni, Paola, and Rosa Imbesi. "The role of malnutrition during pregnancy and its effects on brain and skeletal muscle postnatal development. " Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology 2.  2018, www. gainhealth. org/knowledge-centre/tackling-malnutrition-in-haiti-challenges-resilience-and-hope/. Accessed 12 Apr. Di Renzo, Gian Carlo, et al.

" Journal of hunger & environmental nutrition 12. Freemark, Michael. "Placental hormones and the control of fetal growth. Fuller-Wimbush, Danielle, and C. Fils Aimé. " Hormone Research in Paediatrics 65. Suppl. Glinoer, Daniel. "The importance of iodine nutrition during pregnancy. " Public health nutrition 10. G. , and Louise C. Ivers. "Community health workers in health systems strengthening: a qualitative evaluation from rural Haiti. " AIDS (London, England) 24. Nyaradi, Anett, et al. "The role of nutrition in children's neurocognitive development, from pregnancy through childhood. " Frontiers in human neuroscience 7 (2013): 97. Oliver, Kathryn, et al. "A systematic review of barriers to and facilitators of the use of evidence by policymakers. Perry, Henry, et al. "Long-term reductions in mortality among children under age 5 in rural Haiti: effects of a comprehensive health system in an impoverished setting.