HIDDEN HUNGER

Hidden hunger is a type of malnutrition which is also known as micronutrient deficiency.
It is a major public health problem found in most developing countries.
It is called hidden hunger because it does not elicit the hunger in the affected individual,
thereby making the individual to look alright but suffering extremely negative impact on
health and well being. It affects infants, children, adults, adolescents and expectant
mothers. Children may turn out stunted and most times suffer frequent illness
1 out of 3 people suffer from hidden hunger mostly from developing countries thereby
exposing them to higher risk to infections, birth defects and impaired development.
Sufferers of this type of malnutrition consume diets that are micronutrient deficient. They
habitually consume large amounts of staple foods crops, high in calories (e.g. cassava,
maize, wheat and rice) but lack sufficient micronutrients.
Affected victims are often too poor to understand or afford balanced /nutritious diet.

CAUSES:

Common cause of hidden hunger is poor diet. Diets based mostly on stable crops such
as maize, wheat, rice and cassava that provides large amount of energy but relatively
lack essential vitamins and minerals, (vit A, zinc, iron and iodine) always result in hidden
hunger. Impaired absorption due to infections or parasites can also lead to hidden
hunger

EFFECT OF HIDDEN HUNGER

Hidden hunger leads to mental impairment, poor health, and low productivity which
affect children by preventing them from achieving the full development needed in their
physical, intellectual and social potential.
It has adverse effect on the society at large by posing devastating threats to health,
education, economic growth especially in developing countries.

KEY MICRONUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES AND THEIR EFFECTS

IODINE DEFICIENCY: it affects 780 million people worldwide. The clearest symptom is a
swelling of the thyroid gland called goiter. But the most serious impact is on the brain,
which cannot develop properly without iodine. It is associated with severe mental
retardation and physical stunting in infants.

VITAMIN A DEFICIENCY: vitamin A deficiency weakens the immune systems of a large
proportion of under-fives in poor countries, thereby increasing their vulnerability to
disease. A deficiency in vit A increases the risk of dying from diarrhea, measles and
malaria, affects pregnant women, and also a leading cause of child blindness across
developing countries.

ZINC DEFICIENCY: contributes to growth failure and weakened immunity in young
children. It is linked to a higher risk of diarrhea and pneumonia, stunting and frequent
infections

IRON DEFICIENCY: this is the most prevalent form of malnutrition worldwide, affecting
millions of people. Iron forms the molecules that carry oxygen in the blood, so
symptoms of a deficiency include tiredness and lethargy. Lack of iron in large segments
of the population severely damages a country's productivity. Iron deficiency also
impedes cognitive development and low energy, affecting 40-60 percent of children
aged 6-24 months in developing countries. It also leads to anemia, low birth weight, high
maternal mortality and premature births.

SOLUTIONS TO ERADICATING HIDDEN HUNGER

Dietary diversity:

Dietary diversity should be encouraged and practiced as it ensures a healthy diet that
contains a balanced and adequate combination of macronutrients, micronutrients and
other food-based substances like dietary fiber.

Food fortification:

Food fortification adds trace amount of micronutrients to staple foods during processing
and also helps in achieving recommended levels of micronutrients.

Biofortification:

This involves breeding foods crops, using conventional or transgenic method to
increase their micronutrients content. It can provide steady and safe source of certain
micronutrients for people not reached by other interventions as it targets mostly rural
areas

Vitamin A supplementation:

This improves child survival by reducing high risk of child mortality and also reduces
incidence of diarrhea.

THE WAY FORWARD

There should be actions aimed at improving monitory and public education about the
importance of consuming iodized salts and these activities should be focused mainly on
infants, children, adolescents and pregnant women.
Dietary diversity should be promoted by involving in food-based strategies like home
gardening, food preparation and storage/preservation method and educating people on
better infant and young child feeding practices
Easy access to consumers in the rural areas should be provided as to reduce the gap in
accessing fortified foods among rural and urban consumers
There should be actions to educate, improve and monitor biofortification as it can help
to close the micronutrient deficiency gap.
Vitamin A supplements should be provided an targeted at the vulnerable populations
like pregnant women and under 5 children.
Social protection that gives poor people access to nutritious foods and shields them
from price spike should be provided.

By Ihuoma Pearl
BS.c, MPH.