Kwashiorkor, on the other hand, is the deficiency of certain amino acids found in protein. Malnutrition of this kind is often found either in areas where the basic staple foods are starch-rich root crops or in areas where wheat products are the staple, but have low protein consumption.

Recovery from marasmus is not as immediate as that from kwashiorkor. Mortality rates from marasmus victims often range from 15 to 40 percent. Because the disease carries along with several complications, victims of the disease—particularly infants, barely survive or die. Those who do survive—whether the baby is in his first year or if ever the patient fully recovers—usually suffer from mental deterioration as a result.

Malnutrition's global toll is also not mainly a consequence of famines, wars and other catastrophes, as is widely thought. Undernutrition is found rather prominent either in countries whose Gross National Product (GDP) is classified by the World Bank as "low income" (Ibid) or in countries where the economic policies and distribution of income are concentrated in small, urban areas, leaving little regard for the rural majority. Nutritional surveys for Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, Bangladesh, Sri Langka, Pakistan, and four states in West Africa all support that the key factor involved is socio-economic: people classified below the poverty line that are less educated greatly contribute to the population of the undernourished.

Further Reading

• John W. Warnock, The Politics of Hunger: The Global Food System, Methuen Publishing New York, New York, 1987

[ Page 1 ] [ Page 2 ]