Micronutrient Malnutrition
- Micronutrient malnutrition, a burgeoning public health problem in developing countries, results primarily from diets deficient in essential vitamins and minerals.
- Known as "hidden hunger," micronutrient malnutrition can exist even when poor people have enough to eat, but lack the resources to buy fruits, vegetables, meat, and other foods rich in vitamins and minerals. ("The Scourge of 'Hidden Hunger': Global Dimensions of Micronutrient Deficiencies," Food, Nutrition and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO], 32: 2003)
- Diets poor in micronutrients cause illness, blindness, premature death, reduced productivity, and impaired mental development, particularly among women and children in developing countries. (Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency: A Global Progress Report, The United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF]/The Micronutrient Initiative, 2004)
- In the next 12 months, micronutrient malnutrition will cause 1 million children to die before the age of five, 50,000 women to die from childbirth, and 100,000 infants to be born with preventable physical defects. (Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition [GAIN] website, 2006)
- More than a third of Sub-Saharan Africa's people suffer the debilitating effects of micronutrient malnutrition. (Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency: A Global Progress Report, UNICEF/The Micronutrient Initiative, 2004)
- Micronutrient deficiencies are estimated to cost Sub-Saharan African economies more than U.S. $2.3 billion in lost productivity. (UNICEF website, 2004)