Sub-clinical malnutrition more devastating

By John Eremu

RABAT - Sub-clinical malnutrition has a more devastating effect than those that are easily diagnosed, Richard Deckelbaum, a renowned scholar and nutritionist has said.

Deckelbaum, from the Institute of Human Nutrition, Colombia University, told a parallel workshop at the on-going Second Ministerial Form on Science, Technology and Innovations (STI) in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, Thursday that roughly 40% of children aged five years and below in developing countries and women worldwide are iron deficient or anemic.

“When you see a woman with goiter, know that that is just a tip of the iceberg of iodine deficiency,” Deckelbaum said.

“This is because if you have 10% goitre cases in a particular area, the sub-clinical cases are between 50 – 60% and this hidden form of malnutrition that cannot be immediately diagnosed – is more devastating because children born to such women will have an IQ of 10 – 15 points lower for the rest of their lives,” Beckelbaum told the workshop on agriculture and food security at the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco.

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Muyingo shares a moment with ADEA Executive Secretary, Ms. Oley Dibba-Wadda and Dr. Tarek Chehedi, the ADEA ICT Task Force Coordinator (Centre) at the forum venue at the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco, Rabat October 16

The four-day conference has brought together ministers responsible for education, technology and scientific research across Africa as well as leading researchers, academics and development partners. It was sponsored by a consortium of donors including among others the African Development Bank and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa – ADEA.

The participants from Uganda include state minister for higher education, Dr. JC Muyngo, Prof. Charles Ssewankambo of Makerere University Medical School and Eng. Patrick Amuriat, the chairperson parliamentary committee on science and technology. Amuriat was a panelist in one of the parallel workshops on natural resources.

The second STI workshop is a follow up of the one held in Nairobi, Kenya, two years ago and aimed at assessing country progress on the commitments made during the Nairobi forum.  

Beckelbaum regretted that over 700 million people are affected by iodine deficiency disorders with as high as 250 million children below five years of age at risk for vitamin A deficiency.

Diet quality, he said, can have far-reaching effects on both physical and mental growth of children including their learning ability and immune responses to infections and diseases.

Beckelbaum recommended that all salt for human consumption should be fortified (iodised). He however, wondered how countries that produce salt like Kenya, also still have cases of goiter.

In some countries, he said, people consume uniodized salt meant for animals because they are cheaper.