Is Food the Answer to Malnutrition
TL;DR: Pre-natal care, immunization programs, breastfeeding promotion, the quality of child care and nurturing behaviors, the sanitary and home environment, food supplementation and fortification schemes to deal with micronutrient deficiencies, and related education programs are likely the critical inputs into the production of improved health and nutritional outcomes.
Abstract: Many of the traditional strategies, such as food aid distribution programs, school feeding programs and food stamps, as well as interference in food markets through food subsidies and ration programs, do not address the most pressing and malnutrition. This reflects the fact that the critical period of undernutrition is generally in early life, and the causes of malnutrition often have little to do with food access and availability. Instead, pre-natal care, immunization programs, breastfeeding promotion, the quality of child care and nurturing behaviors, the sanitary and home environment, food supplementation and fortification schemes to deal with micronutrient deficiencies, and related education programs, are likely the critical inputs into the production of improved health and nutritional outcomes.
Citations
More filters
01 Jan 2016
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed a hierarchical model that uses two "social forces" as decision drivers: economics at the landowner level and security at the State level, to understand the effect sustainable intensification has on land use patterns, when their distribution and quantity depend on State food-security in a global context.
Abstract: Growth in World’s population, the expansion of human activities and the demand for land has and continues to damage the natural environment. Humans depend on the natural environment for essential life-preserving processes, for example food production. Damage to the environment has serious consequences for national (State) and human security and wellbeing. One concern is food security and, in particular, whether a growing World population will find enough food to eat. The consequences of using more land and resources to grow more food are an important area of research. The expansion of farming will leave less land for other important uses. A proposed solution to this land use problem is sustainable intensification: growing more food on less land with either the same, or a reduced environmental impact. On a purely technical level, sustainable intensification appears to offer a solution to food insecurity and environmental damage. However, the adoption of agricultural technologies such as sustainable intensification is influenced by ‘social forces’ which need to be considered. We are developing a hierarchical model that uses two ‘social forces’ as decision drivers: economics at the landowner level and security at the State level. In our prototype model, State security restricts the economic decisions of landowners. The purpose of the model is to understand the effect sustainable intensification has on land use patterns, when their distribution and quantity depend on State food-security in a global context.
6 citations
••
01 Jan 2020TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the fact that for the first 140 years of the United States, exports from this country primarily to Europe, were dominated by agricultural products, and the US government did not pursue expansion of US agricultural exports as an explicit policy objective until 1930, starting with the creation of the Foreign Agricultural Service, charged with providing specific staff in key US embassies to cover agricultural issues.
Abstract: In this chapter, we discuss the fact that for the first 140 years of the United States, exports from this country, primarily to Europe, were dominated by agricultural products. Nonetheless, the US government did not pursue expansion of US agricultural exports as an explicit policy objective until 1930, starting with the creation of the Foreign Agricultural Service, charged with providing specific staff in key US embassies to cover agricultural issues. The current toolbox of US agricultural trade policy consists of trade promotion and export credit programs, working to dismantle sanitary and/or technical barriers to US agricultural products in foreign markets, and systematically negotiating reductions in tariffs on agricultural imports and other trade barriers under free trade agreements.