MKS Publication

Chapter 1

An Appropriate Nutritional Screening Method is a Critical Step for Third World Country Development

Abstract/Preface

Though obesity is the leading form of malnutrition in the world, undernutrition remains a critical concern in the developing world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. In earlier decades, the main focus of nutritional support was to reduce the risk for infections and death, but for the last three decades, greater understanding has emerged regarding the risk for permanent damage to brain development, cognition, and academic achievement posed by undernutrition during infancy and early childhood. This increases the pressure to identify and intervene on children with acute and chronic malnutrition. With respect to the practical issues of national development for third world countries, these issues may present harsher obstacles to the goal of rising out of poverty than the risks for infections and death by burdening these countries with substantial percentage of their populations unable to reach their genetic potential for intellectual development. In addition to a brief review of these issues, we review data from previous studies that demonstrate the harsh reality that the screening program used in virtually all low and middle income countries (LMIC) fails to identify large swaths of the population at risk for permanent brain damage, cognitive suppression, and poor academic performance caused by malnutrition in formative years. We recommend the abandonment of that insufficient screening tool and the immediate adoption of 14 cm as a more appropriate screening tool.