Spotters in "Nutrition and Health: Nutritional problems in public health" for CFM & MPH students

1. Low birth weight:

Important features:

• Birth weight less than 2500 gm is called Low birth weight
• In India 18.6% babies born are LBW as compared to 4% in developed countries
• Among LBW babies majority are suffering from foetal growth retardation and preterm
• Maternal malnutrition & anaemia are significant risk factors
• Other causes are hard physical labour during pregnancy, infections, short maternal stature, very young age, high parity, smoking, close birth intervals

2. Under nutrition:

(a) Kwashiorkor:

Important features: 

• It is a severe form of protein energy malnutrition
• Main cause is inadequate protein intake & low concentration of essential amino acids
• Protein/ Energy ratio is low in diet
• Main symptoms are oedema, wasting, liver enlargement, hypoalbuminaemia, steatosis and depigmentation of skin and hair (flag sign)

(b) Marasmus:

Important features:

• It is also severe form of protein energy malnutrition
• Caused by inadequate intake of both protein and energy
• A form of severe cachexia with weight loss as a result of wasting in infancy & childhood
• Main symptoms are severe wasting with little or no oedema, minimal subcutaneous fat, severe muscle wasting & non-normal albumin levels

3. Xerophthalmia:

Important features:

• Xerophthalmia or dry eye refers to all the ocular manifestations of vitamin A deficiency in humans
• Most common in children of age group 1-3 years
• Often related to weaning
• Younger the child more severe is the disease
• Victims mostly belong to poor families
• Risk factors are ignorance, faulty feeding practices, infections example diarrhoea & measles
• Preventive measures are administration of large doses of vitamin A, food fortification, good feeding practices & immunization

4. Nutritional anaemia:

Important features:

• It is a disease syndrome caused by malnutrition
• Hb % of blood is lower than normal
• Caused mostly by iron deficiency & less frequently by folate and vitamin B12 deficiency
• Has many detrimental effects of health
• Preventive measures are iron & folic acid supplementation, food fortification, good dietary habits, control of parasites & nutritional education

5. Iodine deficiency disorders:

Important features:

• Around 71 million people suffering from IDD in india
• There  are 4 essential components of National iodine deficiency disorders control programme
• These preventive measures are iodized salt or oil, monitoring or surveillance, manpower training & mass communication

6. Endemic fluorosis:

Important features:

• Manifests as dental fluorosis, skeletal fluorosis & genu valgum
• Occurs in areas where fluorine is excess (1.5 mg/L to 6 mg/L) in drinking water
• Preventive interventions are changing the water source & chemical treatment of water example by Nalgonda technique

7. Lathyrism:

Important features:

• It is paralyzing disease of humans & animals 
• In humans it is called neurolathyrism & in animals osteolathyrism
• Neurolathyrism is characterized by gradually developing spastic paralysis of lower limbs
• Occurs mostly in adults consuming the Khesari dal (Lathyrus sativus) in large qunatities due to toxin BOAA
• Stages of lathyrism are latent stage, no-stick stage, one-stick stage, two-stick stage & crawler stage
• Preventive interventions are vitamin C prophylaxis, banning the crop, removal of toxin, parboiling & educaion

References:

1. Park, K. (2019). Park's textbook of preventive and social medicine. 25th. Jabalpur, India: M/S Banarsidas Bhanot.
2. Kadri AM. (2019). IAPSM's Textbook of Community Medicine. 1st. New Delhi, India: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) Ltd.
3. https://childs-care.com/care-for-babies-low-birth-weight/ photo credit
4. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nutrition-children/undernutrition-behind-third-of-child-deaths-studies-idUSL1652413820080117 photo credit
5. https://glutenfreeworks.com/health/xerophthalmia-2/ photo credit
6. https://www.planetayurveda.com/library/anaemia/ photo credit
7. http://sydneygutclinic.com/the-primary-strategies-for-treating-anaemia/ photo credit
8. https://www.memorangapp.com/flashcards/136011/CS+9:+Geriatric+Anemia/ photo credit
9. https://www.powerofpositivity.com/7-signs-of-an-iodine-deficiency-to-never-ignore/ photo credit
10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK285556/ photo credit
11. https://healthjade.com/fluorosis/ photo credit
12. https://dentistryandmedicine.blogspot.com/2015/08/dental-fluorosis.html photo credit
13. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Patients-with-lathyrism_fig1_14998593 photo credit
14. https://www.slideshare.net/SopanZuge/odapboaa-its-genetics-and-breeding-approaches-in-lathyrus-lathyrus photo credit
15. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/kwashiorkor photo credit
16. https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/643941/view/child-with-kwashiorkor photo credit
17. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/a-and-b-a-Severe-wasting-b-Marasmus-with-gluteal-skin-folds-baggy-pants-sign_fig70_325943667 photo credit