Vitamins and Minerals

Vitamins and minerals. We know we need them. The United States government regulates food and drugs. Packaging must have particular pieces of information about the nutritional content of foods. And many of the foods in the United States are fortified: flour, cereal, and milk. This is simply not the case in many parts of the world. While folate prevents spina bifida in developed countries, there are still places in the world where folate is not part of fortification.

Adequate vitamins and minerals prevent disease, facilitate brain and body development and increase energy levels. Some cases of anemia result in blood so thinned of iron (and therfore hemoglobin) that it appears pink rather than red.

In children with vitamin A deficiency, the risk of dying from diarrhea, measles, and malaria is increased by 20 to 24%. [BASICS II--from Lancet series]

[Graphic from BASICS II--from Lancet series]

With malnutrition contributing to about 60% of avoidable child deaths, addressing malnutrition could have serious health benefits.

This humanitarian crisis threatens Africa’s economic and social development. Nearly half of
African children are stunted, an irreversible indicator of chronic childhood malnutrition, and grow up with severe limitations on their learning and productive potential. In Uganda and Ghana, the loss of economic activity due to stunting has been estimated at $200 million over a 5-year period.6 For 40 African countries, depressed current productivity due to iron deficiency anemia among adults has been estimated at nearly $1 billion annually.7 Retarded cognitive development and lower school performance of today’s children due to iodine and iron deficiency anemia will lower their adult productivity and earnings by another $1.6 billion
annually. [From NEPAD Nutrition Concept Note]

last updated 25 May 2006