Food Security and Malnutrition

“Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. (World Food Summit, 1996)

 The four pillars of food security from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2006):

Food availability

• When there are sufficient quantities of food of appropriate quality, supplied through domestic production or imports (including food aid).

Food access

• Acess by individuals to adequate resources for acquiring appropriate foods for a nutritious diet. 

Utilization

• Utilization of food through adequate diet, clean water, sanitation and health care to reach a state of nutritional well-being where all physiological needs are met. This brings out the importance of non-food inputs in food security.

Stability

• To be food secure, a population, household or individual must have access to adequate food at all times. They should not risk losing access to food as a consequence of sudden shocks or cyclical events (seasonal food insecurity). 

These four pillars must present themselves simultaneously under food security. When people are unable to meet the above defintion of food security, or if any of the pillars are not present, they are dealing with food insecurity. Fourty-three percent of households with incomes below the poverty line are food insecure. In many poverty dense regions, people are unable to access affordable, healthy food, even when funds are available, as they reside in food deserts (Levine 2011, 2667).

Severals of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) pertain to food insecurity, including the goal to halve the number of people living in hunger, and the goal to reduce child mortality. Nutrition of infants is an important concern, since nutritional deprivation in the early stages of life can lead to irreversible damage to physical and mental health (Heltberg, 2009).

Food insecurity can lead to malnutrition. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines malnutrition as “deficiencies, excesses, or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients” (WHO 2017). The term addresses three groups:

Undernutrition: this form of malnutrition includes

• wasting (low weight-for-height)
• stunting (low height-for-age) 
• underweight (low weight-for-age)

Micronutrient-related malnutrition: this form of malnutrition consists of micronutrient deficiencies, whereby a person has a lack of important vitamins and minerals. Micronutrients enable the body to produce the enzymes, and hormones necessary for proper development.

Micronutrient excess: this form of malnutrition includes obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases including cardiovascular diseases, certain cancers, and diabetes (WHO 2017).

According to the WHO (2017), poverty amplifies the risks associated with malnutrition. People living in poverty are more likely to be affected by different forms of malnutrition. Furthermore, as it increases healthcare costs and reduces productivity, malnutrition may aid to perpetuate a cycle of poverty and ill health.

(UNICEF 1990)