Common Causes of Malnutrition Among Children in Purok 4, Brgy 2 Mercedes,

Camarines Norte

A research proposal presented to the faculty of Mabini colleges In partial fulfillment

of the requirements for Practical Research 1 and 2

Maria Consuelo S. Quindara

Research Instructor

Researchers:

Yanaleen Azaler Peregrino

Patricia Bea Lopez

Ronielyn Elisa Malaluan

Lindsay Reufrir

Karla Salvanera

Christine Joy Naing

Leoj Mari Barrameda

Venus Arriane Postre

 Chapter 1

The Problem

INTRODUCTION

A malnourished person finds that their body has difficulty doing normal things

such as growing and resisting disease. Physical work becomes problematic and even

learning abilities can be diminished. For women, Pregnancy becomes risky and they

cannot be sure of producing nourishing milk.

During growth years the requirement of nutrients usually is high and such demands

meed to be met adequately. Regular visits to the pediatrician for assessment of

adequate growth in height and weight is essential.

Malnutrition Causes more problems in children than in any other age group as

they may lead to growth (physical and mental) retardation and susceptibility to

repeated infections.

When a child do not get enough food malnutrition is just around the corner. Even

if children did get enough food to eat, they can still be malnourished if the food they

eat does not provide the proper amount of micro nutrients, vitamins and minerals to

meet daily nutritional requirements.

Treatment usually consist of replacing missing nutrients, treating symptoms as

needed, and treating any underlying medical condition.

Malnutrition is the most common nutritional disorder in developing countries

and it remains one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality among

children worldwide. It is estimated that 150 million children under 5 years are

underweight and more than 20 million suffer from severe malnutrition. Here

understood as under-nutrition is common globally and results in both short and long
term irreversible negative health outcomes including stunted growth which means a

condition that primarily affects people who suffer from malnutrition during

childhood. People whose growth is stunted typically have short heights and low body

masses for their age group which may also be linked to cognitive developments

deficits, underweight and wasting. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates

that malnutrition accounts for 54 percent of child mortality worldwide, about 1

million children. WHO states that childhood underweight is the cause for about 35

percent of all deaths of children under the age of 5 years worldwide.

Under-Nutrition puts children at greater risk of dying from common infections,

increases the frequency and severity of such infections, and contributes to delayed

recovery. In addition, the interaction between under-nutrition and infection can create

potentially lethal cycle of worsening illness and deteriorating nutritional status. Poor

nutrition in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life can also lead to stunted growth which

is irreversible and associated with impaired cognitive ability and reduce school work

and work performance.

Malnutrition among children is a major public health problem. This is reflected

by the fact that the prevalence of underweight children. India is among the highest in

the world. It is also observed that the malnutrition problem in India is a concentrated

phenomenon that is a relatively small number of states, Districts, and villages account

for a large share of malnutrition burden, only 5 states and 50 percent of villages

account for about 80 percent of malnutrition burden. Each year approximately 2.3

million deaths among 6-60 months aged children in developing countries are

associated with malnutrition, which is about 41 percent in this age group. A recent

study among children aged between 3 months and 3 years of age conducted in 130

districts through Demographic and health surveys in 53 countries over a period from
1986 to 2006 found that variance in mild under-weight. Has a larger and more robust

correlation with child mortality than the variance in severe under-weight deserves

greater attention as a useful signal of changing public health conditions among

preschool children in developing countries. Therefore, it is important for the health

system to detect malnutrition at an early stage for planning and implementing timely

interventions at the community level. Malnutrition is the most common nutritional

disorder in developing countries and it remains one of the most common cause of

morbidity among children worldwide,

Malnourished children discover their body’s difficulty in doing things such as

growing and resisting diseases. Playing and doing some physical activities become

hard for them and even learning activities can be diminished. Children suffering from

malnutrition could lack energy because they don’t take in enough nutrients to sustain

body needs.

Children who are under nourished before age 2 and gain weight quickly later in

childhood and in adolescence are at high riThis study focus on the common causes of

malnutrition among children in Purok 4, Brgy 2 Mercedes Camarines Norte. This will

show us on how to deal with children who undergo malnutrition. Malnutrition is a

general term for a medical condition caused by an improper or insufficient diet. It

more often refers to under-nutrition resulting from inadequate consumption, poor

absorption or excessive loss of nutrients, but the term can also encompass over

nutrition resulting to over eating or excessive intake of specific nutrients. Mercedes is

a second class municipality in the province of Daet, Camarines Norte. According to

the census 2015 it has a population of 50,841 people.sk chronic disease related to

nutrition.
 Purok 4. Brgy 2, Mercedes Camarines Norte was chosen by the researchers

because it is one of the common place in Camarines Norte that has malnourished

children that the researchers saw. Some of the children there looks like they were

starving or they just don’t eat the right food that contains different knd of nutrients.

Some are caught eating junk foods and drinking sodas early in the morning .

The researchers decided to conduct their research in Mercedes because they know

they can help the children in Purok 4, Brgy 2, Mercedes Camarines Norte by giving

them knowledge about the right things to do. Also by conducting a small feeding

program that consist of food that has high nutritional values just lke what they needed.

The researchers conducted their feeding program at least once a week , this study is

very important because the researchers know that this study can help those children in

Mercedes particularly in Purok 4, Brgy 2. Researchers chose this study because they

want to help children who cant do what they want or children who are unable to have

high grades in school just because they lack nutrients that their body needs that hinder

them to do physical and mental activities.

 CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the related literature and studies . It includes

conceptual framework and paradigm. The researchers browsed the internet and books

as sources of information.

REVIEW RELATED LITERATURE

Karin du Plessis Ph.D. (2001) wrote an article entitled “diet and

nutrition” She stated that nutrients are consumed through the food that we eat, and

through metabolic processes in the digestive system these nutrients are absorbed at a

cellular level in the body. A nutrient-rich diet could assist apprentices to maintain a

healthy body and mind. The nature of most construction industry apprenticeships is

such that it requires concentration and moderate to high levels of physical activity,

and consequentially apprentices need a diet which can support these required high

energy demands. Anecdotally, apprentices display a range of dietary practices, which

appear to be moderated by their taste preferences, nutritional beliefs and knowledge,

environment (e.g., availability of food; healthful dietary messages) and degree of

prescription to traditional masculine stereotypes.

According to Detroit (2007) food justice task force (2004): Recent

research suggests that many of Detroit’s children are consuming “foods” which do not

promote optimal health.  The study indicated that many children are getting energy

primarily from powdered fruit flavored drinks. Children who do not have an adequate

diet perform poorly in school because they are absent more due to illness, have

shorter attention spans, retain less, and often exhibit inappropriate behaviors.

(www.justicetaskforce.com)
 Far too many children and adults are overweight or obese and as a result

suffer from poor self-esteem, lack of energy, social challenges and various health

problems.  Obesity should be of major concern in the city of Detroit.  Clearly, at the

heart of efforts to address obesity must be the understanding that this is a cultural

phenomenon that is deep rooted in the habits that have been developed by post World

War II generations of the American populace and federal policies that greatly

subsidize less healthy processed foods making them abundant and cheap over fresh

produce.

The movement towards convenience slowly led families away from the

preparation of fresh foods that sustained health and wellness, to pre-packaged, instant

foods that reduced the time spent in kitchens, but compromised nutrition.  That

downward spiral has continued with the proliferation of “fast food” restaurants

throughout the city of Detroit.  Many families get significant percentages of their food

from such establishments.  Research has shown that the fat contained in burgers and

fries contribute significantly to obesity in children and adults.  The tendency of those

establishments to “supersize” their product has led to over-consumption, and again

contributes to obesity and poor health.

Many Detroiters suffer from illnesses that could be prevented or controlled by

improved eating habits including hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease.  It has

been suggested that certain cancers may be caused by nitrates and nitrites in

processing meats that are used frequently in the African-American community such as

smoked meats, bacon, sausage and lunch meat.  African American communities also

face higher risk from diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other diet-related illnesses.
RELATED STUDY

According to Nathan Gray (2011) who conducted a study entitled poor childhood

diet linked to low IQ . A diet with high I fats, sugars, processed foods in early

childhood may result in lower IQ scores, While a diet rich in healthy foods packed

with vitamins and nutrients may work in reverse .

Researchers led by Dr. Kate Northstone (2005) from the department of social

medicine at the University of Bristol also said that “In this population of

contemporary British children, A poor diet associated with increased intake of

processed food, fat and sugar in such early childhood associated with lower IQ at the

age of 8.5 years in addition a concurrent healthy diet maybe associated with higher

IQ”

According to the study conducted by Dr. Mandal, Ananya (2011), one of the

causes of malnutrition is inadequate diet because of the lack of intake of fruits and

vegetables and increased consumption of refined carbohydrates and fats.

Our data suggest that both maternal and paternal education are strong predictors

of of child stunting: greater levels of formal education achieved by both mothers and

fathers were associated with a decreased odds of child stunting. Previous reports have

examined the effect of no education versus some formal education, or the completion

of primary secondary school, with child height or stunting; there is also paucity of

data for the effect of paternal education on child development. The large sample sizes

studied here allowed sufficient power to discern the effects of levels of formal

parental education on the risk of child stunting.

SYNTHESIS STATE OF THE ART

In the presented study entitled Common causes of malnutrition among children in

Purok 4, Brgy 2 Mercedes Camarines Norte. There are some similarities and between

our present study to some previous study and these are the following

In the study conducted by Nathan Gray and Dr. Kate Northstone (1997) that

saids A diet with high I fats, sugars, processed foods in early childhood may result in

lower IQ scores, While a diet rich in healthy foods packed with vitamins and nutrients

may work in reverse meaning if you eat unhealthy foods or you don’t eat at all it can

result to low IQ or difficulty in maintaining good grades in school and if you eat

healthy foods and maintain good and healthy diet it may result to high IQ which

means good and High grades in school

In the study of Dr. Ananya Mandal (2011) that inadequate diet is one of the

causes of malnutrition it is similar to our study because not taking enough nutritional

food or lack of vitamins is or means inadequate diet.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK