How technology, policies can combat malnutrition in Asia

February 20, 2023

Nutrition is the foundation for children’s growth and development. However, resource and wealth disparities have resulted in increased poverty and hunger around the world.

According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), between 720 million and 811 million people faced hunger in 2020, an increase of 161 million from 2019. Malnutrition is linked to hunger, but according to John Hopkins Medical, there is a distinction between the two, even though they frequently coexist. Malnutrition refers to a lack of nutrients required for proper health and development.

Malnutrition is one of the most serious issues confronting our societies today. Getting the best nutrition is impossible in many countries due to rising commodity prices, declining purchasing power, and insufficient food supply.

According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report, there are significant gaps in the food system that prevent everyone from having access to nutritious foods at an affordable price. The cost of a healthy diet is significantly higher than the cost of a diet that provides enough calories but lacks nutritional value. Given that women and children have greater nutritional needs, these costs are even higher for them.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) also noted that food costs have risen steadily in the region ever since the pandemic began in early 2020. Rising unemployment and shrinking product markets contributed to the pandemic’s food crisis.

Both urban and rural households were less able to purchase food due to significant income and remittance losses. Additionally, local market supply disruptions decreased food availability and raised local food prices. The cost of food increased due to supply chain disruptions and currency depreciation, which posed additional challenges for import-dependent economies.

The WHO stated that the affordability of healthy diets, which is essential to ensuring food security and nutrition for all, has become nearly impossible for poor people in Asia and the Pacific as a result of rising prices for fruits, vegetables, and dairy products.

New app to track malnutrition

Meanwhile, technology can aid in the reduction of malnutrition. A key feature of a new app developed by the global nonprofit Action Against Hunger is the ability to detect acute malnutrition in children. It said that “the tool has the potential to change the way the world screens millions of children for malnutrition.”

The need for creative solutions to end malnutrition is now more urgent than ever because, according to the organization, more than 2,000 children die every day from causes related to hunger. “Malnutrition diagnostics are typically slow, if they are even available, in places where hunger is deadly, “ it said, adding that the current detection methods require health workers to transport heavy height boards and cumbersome bucket scales from village to village, and these are time-consuming and inaccurate.

Action Against Hunger’s new Gold Anthem Awardee mobile app can screen children for severe acute malnutrition (SAM), with just a “quick photo”, providing health professionals with useful tools to identify malnutrition more quickly and accurately. The app compares scans of a potentially malnourished child with scans of a healthy child using body scanning technology and morphological methods.

The app is faster, easier, and more accurate than today’s standard of care because it is designed for poor, rural areas with no internet connection, low literacy levels, and the most basic Android phones in widespread use, Action Against Hunger said.

The organization has conducted large-scale pilots in Senegal, where the app is used by more than 90 clinics, and plans to expand the program to Guatemala, Mali, and Mauritania. Globally, an estimated 75% of acutely malnourished children who require treatment do not have access to it, despite the fact that extremely cost-effective treatments have a cure rate of more than 90%.

Getting to the bottom of the problem

While technology can aid in the detection and monitoring of malnutrition, the problem must still be addressed at its root.

The ADB recommended focusing policy efforts on creating resilient food systems for the long term in order to address the rising food insecurity in Asia and the Pacific. This can be done by assisting farmers in avoiding weather shocks, preparing for them, and adapting to them. Farmers can prepare for extreme weather events by investing in early warning systems like crop modeling and spatial information technology.

In addition, the WHO report calls for a transformation of the food systems in the region in order to improve the affordability of and access to healthy, sustainable diets for families. Everyone and everywhere needs to have access to nourishing and healthy diets. The report suggests that integrated approaches and policies are required to make sure that happens.

SOURCES:
https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/food
https://www.hopkinsallchildrens.org/
https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/press-releases/innovative-app-for-detecting-malnutrition-wins-2023-gold-anthem-award/
https://blogs.adb.org/blog/millions-are-going-hungry-in-post-pandemic-asia-here-s-how-to-respond
https://www.who.int/westernpacific/news/item/20-01-2021-un-agencies-warn-economic-impact-of-covid-19-and-worsening-inequalities-will-fuel-malnutrition-for-billions-in-asia-and-the-pacific

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