Question

Unconventional food as nutritional measure to overcome malnutrition

Answer 1

Answer:

Child malnutrition is a major global health problem,

leading to morbidity and mortality, impaired intellec-

tual development and working capacity, and increased

risk of adult disease. This review will deal with the

needs of children between the ages of 6 months and

5 years with moderate malnutrition. Infants below 6

months of age should (ideally) be exclusively breastfed,

and if malnourished, will have special needs, which will

not be covered here. Moderate malnutrition includes all

children with moderate wasting, defined as a weight-

for-height between –3 and –2 z-scores of the median

of the new World Health Organization (WHO) child

growth standards and all those with moderate stunt-

ing, defined as a height-for-age between –3 and –2

z-scores. There are no specific recommendations on

the optimal treatment of children with severe stunt-

ing, but it is assumed that children with severe stunt-

ing would benefit from a diet adapted for moderately

stunted children, as pointed out in the proceedings of

this meeting on the treatment of moderate malnutri-

tion.

Answer 2

Answer:

Although nutrition, as a science, has always been part of conventional medicine, physicians are not taught, and therefore often do not practice, much in the way of nutritional therapeutics. In conventional settings, dieticians tend to work with particular groups of patients—such as those with diabetes, obesity, digestive or swallowing problems, or cardiovascular risk factors. Apart from the treatment of gross nutritional deficiencies and rare metabolic disorders, other nutritional interventions generally are not part of conventional medical practice. Therefore, they are more commonly described as complementary medicine.