By Patrick Gerenge
The inspiration for today’s article is from a client that I recently dealt with. "Do you eat your meals regularly?" I asked. "Yes I do," she answered. "So why do you think you are suffering from nutritional deficiency?" "That’s what I want to know," she quipped.
The explanation is that it is possible to have regular meals but missing out on certain nutrients, which might not present a problem immediately. But if we continually expose ourselves to these deficiencies we inevitably face health risks. Vitamin and Mineral deficiencies are a common occurrence. This is what is referred to as hidden hunger. And unlike many epidemics, talking of deficiencies in vitamin and mineral is largely unheard of, well at least not to epidemic levels. But according to a Unicef report, sub-Saharan Africa is home to some of the most nutritionally insecure people in the world.
Conflict, HIV and Aids, poverty, and lack of access to health services contribute to the high levels of vitamin and mineral deficiency.
In Kenya, the report indicates that the estimated prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia in children under five years is 60 per cent and estimated prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia in women between ages 15 to 49 is 43 per cent. Estimated annual number of children born mentally impaired due to iodine deficiency is 105,000, while the rate of goitre due to iodine deficiency is 10 per cent.
The estimated number of annual deaths of children is 23,000 due to vitamin A deficiency, while an estimated 70 per cent of children below six years suffer sub-clinical vitamin A deficiency.
It has long been known that micronutrient (lack of vitamins and minerals) inflicts anaemia (lack of enough blood), cretinism (deformed and mentally undeveloped person) and blindness in millions of people. But the news of the last decade is that this is but the tip of the iceberg. Mineral and vitamin deficiency can and do impair intellectual development, compromise immune systems, and provoke birth defects.
The solution
Due to the imperative need to curb the deficiency, some solutions have been suggested. They include:
_ Diet improvement: Observing good eating habits and ensuring a consumption of balanced meals at all times will go a long way in improving our diets.
_ Fortification: Adding essential vitamins and minerals to foods that are regularly consumed by many people has helped. Check around for fortified food products when you go shopping.
_ Supplements: Vitamin and mineral supplements are widely available and if there is a need for extra vitamins and minerals then it should not be a difficult task to get your hands on them.
_ Disease Control: Because well-nourished individuals are better equipped to fight disease, controlling some diseases like malaria, and diarrhoea can help the body absorb and retain essential vitamin and minerals that get depleted in case of an illnesses.
_ Education: Getting nutrition information about some foods that can increase the intake and absorption of minerals is important. Dark green and yellow vegetables, meat, poultry and dairy products provide vitamin A. These foods also provide minerals like iron, which is a key mineral requirement for women.
