According to this framework, developed by UNICEF, malnutrition occurs when
dietary intake is inadequate and health is unsatisfactory, being the two
immediate causes of malnutrition. In developing countries, infectious diseases,
such as diarrhoeal diseases (DD) and acute respiratory diseases (ARI), are
responsible for most nutrition-related health problems.
Readily available food, appropriate health systems and a "healthy" environment
are ineffective unless these resources are used effectively. As a result, the
absence of proper care in households and communities is the third necessary
element of the underlying causes of malnutrition.
Finally, this conceptual framework recognises that human and environmental
resources, economic systems and political and ideological factors are basic
causes that contribute to malnutrition.
This model relates the causal factors for under-nutrition with different
social-organisational levels. The
immediate causes affect individuals,
the
underlying causes relate to families, and the basic causes are
related to the community and the nation. As a result, the more indirect are the
causes, the wider the population whose nutritional status is affected.
The Food Security and the Malnutrition conceptual frameworks, which are the
most commonly used frameworks used in this field, show significant differences.
The food security framework emphasises an
economic approach in which
food as a commodity is a central focus. The malnutrition framework adopts a
biological
approach in which the human being is the starting point. However, both
frameworks have in common the promotion of an inter-disciplinary approach to
ensuring food and nutrition security.
|
Availability |
Access
|
Use and Utilisation |
Stability
| Conceptual Framework of Malnutrition |
Measuring Food
and Nutrition Security |
Intervention Tools &
Instruments |