Public Health · Vol. 5, No. 1 · 2020 · pp. 14–16 · e-ISSN 2472-3878

Health, Nutrition, and Economic Development in Africa

Babatunde Omilola, N’doh A. Sanogo

Public Health, Security and Nutrition Division, The African Development Bank Group, Avenue Joseph Anoma, 01 BP 1387 Abidjan 01, Côte d'Ivoire

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17140/phoj-5-140 · Published 2020-04-30 · Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 · © 2020 The Author(s)

Also available as PDF (figures and tables appear in the PDF).

Abstract

The term “well-nourished populations” is the opposite of malnu-trition. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mal-nutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalance in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients. The African continent faces the double burden of malnutrition (DBM) namely child undernutri-tion and adult/child obesity.1 Nutritional disparities and the DBM must be considered from a life course perspective.

Keywords: summary, malnutrition has an effect on human

Conclusion

Good nutrition is widely regarded as one of the key factors for advancing human well-being and economic prosperity.

Undernutrition slows economic growth and deepens poverty through productivity losses from poor physical performance and cognitive capacity. 2,10 It is important for African governments to promote agribusiness entrepreneurship to improvenutrition security and address the high-levels of malnutrition. Multi-sectoral policies (gender, agriculture, social protection, early childhood development, education, water, and nutrition) that tackle the social determinants of health are needed to achieve nutrition security and therefore SDGs and Africa’s social and economic development.

Disclaimer

The article represents the author’s personal opinions and not that of the Bank.

Conflicts Of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figure 1. Technical Brief on the Cost of Malnutrition Adapted from Field Exchange 586

Sanogo NA et al Public Health Open J. 2020; 5(1): 14-16. doi: 10.17140/PHOJ-5-140 16Opinion | Volume 5 | Issue 1|

References

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  10. Field Exchange. Technical brief on the cost of malnutrition Web site. https://www.ennonline.net/fex/58/ technicalbriefcostofmalnutrition. Accessed February 11, 2020. Submit your article to this journal | https://openventio.org/submit-manuscript/