 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Sight and Life is a think tank that focuses on eliminating malnutrition in children and women of childbearing age.
Sight and Life was founded in 1986 by the Swiss global healthcare company, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Ltd, and focused on providing assistance to address the problem of Vitamin A deficiency in developing countries. This assistance was provided mostly in the form of free Vitamin A capsules and Vitamin A supplementation projects. The organisation also provided grants and scholarships for healthcare professionals in developing countries to attend international conferences, workshops, and courses or academic programs. Other types of support included grants for small-scale projects and programmatic research. Sight and Life also began publishing the Sight and Life Newsletter, which disseminated news from the projects and research it supported as well as general news and specific features related to Vitamin A.[ citation needed ]
When DSM acquired Roche's Fine Chemicals division, Roche Vitamins, in 2003, the company continued the Sight and Life Initiative and Newsletter (which it repackaged as the Sight and Life Magazine), and broadened the Initiative's focus to address a wider range of micronutrient deficiencies, not just vitamin A deficiency. This broader focus is reflected in Sight and Life's current programming and grantmaking policies as well as the magazine's editorial content. Sight and Life is also active in promoting greater awareness of the problems of nutritional anemia (or iron deficiency anemia), and the "double burden of malnutrition", an emergent phenomenon in settings of nutritional transition in which both malnutrition and over-nutrition (e.g. obesity), and the diseases associated with them, are found in the same population.[ citation needed ]
Since its founding, Sight and Life has supported over 3,200 research and project activities in over 80 countries between Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. These activities are conducted in collaboration with universities, UN agencies, and non-government and government organizations. Organizational partners include Johns Hopkins University, ETH Zürich (the Swiss Federal Research Institute), the North-West University (South Africa), the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), World Health Organization (WHO), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Micronutrient Forum, the Micronutrient Initiative, Groupe de Recherches et d'Echanges Technologiques (GRET), the Swiss Red Cross, and the Christian Blind Mission.[ citation needed ]
A current partnership with WFP focuses on improving and increasing nutritious food for people in poor countries and during humanitarian crises, toward which DSM and Sight and Life have provided WFP with technical expertise, nutritional products and financial assistance.[ citation needed ]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
Human nutrition deals with the provision of essential nutrients in food that are necessary to support human life and good health. Poor nutrition is a chronic problem often linked to poverty, food security, or a poor understanding of nutritional requirements. Malnutrition and its consequences are large contributors to deaths, physical deformities, and disabilities worldwide. Good nutrition is necessary for children to grow physically and mentally, and for normal human biological development.
Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues and form.
Micronutrients are essential dietary elements required by organisms in varying quantities to regulate physiological functions of cells and organs. Micronutrients support the health of organisms throughout life.
Helen Keller Intl is a US-based nonprofit organization that combats the causes and consequences of blindness and malnutrition by establishing programs based on evidence and research in vision, health, and nutrition. Founded in 1915 by Helen Keller and George A. Kessler, the organization's mission is to save the sight and lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.
Food fortification is the addition of micronutrients to food products. Food enrichment specifically means adding back nutrients lost during food processing, while fortification includes adding nutrients not naturally present. Food manufacturers and governments have used these practices since the 1920s to help prevent nutrient deficiencies in populations. Common nutrient deficiencies in a region often result from local soil conditions or limitations of staple foods. The addition of micronutrients to staples and condiments can prevent large-scale deficiency diseases in these cases.
Folate deficiency, also known as vitamin B9 deficiency, is a low level of folate and derivatives in the body. This may result in megaloblastic anemia in which red blood cells become abnormally large, and folate deficiency anemia is the term given for this medical condition. Signs of folate deficiency are often subtle. Symptoms may include fatigue, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, feeling faint, open sores on the tongue, loss of appetite, changes in the color of the skin or hair, irritability, and behavioral changes. Temporary reversible infertility may occur. Folate deficiency anemia during pregnancy may give rise to the birth of low weight birth premature infants and infants with neural tube defects.
Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) or hypovitaminosis A is a lack of vitamin A in blood and tissues. It is common in poorer countries, especially among children and women of reproductive age, but is rarely seen in more developed countries. Vitamin A plays a major role in phototransduction, so this deficiency impairs vision, often presenting with nyctalopia. In more severe VAD cases, it can progress to xerophthalmia, keratomalacia, and complete blindness.
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is a non-profit foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland. GAIN was developed during the UN 2002 Special Session of the General Assembly on Children. GAIN’s activities include improving the consumption of nutritious and safe foods for all. The foundation is supported by over 30 donors and works closely with international organisations and United Nations agencies. It has a 20-year history of food system programmes with a focus on adolescent and child nutrition, food system research, fortification, small and medium enterprise assistance, biofortification of crops, and reducing post-harvest losses.
Animal source foods (ASF) include many food items that come from an animal source such as fish, meat, dairy, eggs and honey. Many individuals consume little ASF or even none for long periods of time by either personal choice or necessity, as ASF may not be accessible or available to these people.
Micronutrient deficiency is defined as the sustained insufficient supply of vitamins and minerals needed for growth and development, as well as to maintain optimal health. Since some of these compounds are considered essentials, micronutrient deficiencies are often the result of an inadequate intake. However, it can also be associated to poor intestinal absorption, presence of certain chronic illnesses and elevated requirements.
Biofortification is the idea of breeding crops to increase their nutritional value. This can be done either through conventional selective breeding, or through genetic engineering. Biofortification differs from ordinary fortification because it focuses on making plant foods more nutritious as the plants are growing, rather than having nutrients added to the foods when they are being processed. This is an important improvement on ordinary fortification when it comes to providing nutrients for the rural poor, who rarely have access to commercially fortified foods. As such, biofortification is seen as an upcoming strategy for dealing with deficiencies of micronutrients in low and middle-income countries. In the case of iron, the WHO estimated that biofortification could help cure the 2 billion people suffering from iron deficiency-induced anemia.
Anemia is a deficiency in the size or number of red blood cells or in the amount of hemoglobin they contain. This deficiency limits the exchange of O2 and CO2 between the blood and the tissue cells. Globally, young children, women, and older adults are at the highest risk of developing anemia. Anemia can be classified based on different parameters, and one classification depends on whether it is related to nutrition or not so there are two types: nutritional anemia and non-nutritional anemia. Nutritional anemia refers to anemia that can be directly attributed to nutritional disorders or deficiencies. Examples include Iron deficiency anemia and pernicious anemia. It is often discussed in a pediatric context.
Nutrition International, formerly the Micronutrient Initiative (MI), is an international not for profit agency based in Canada that works to eliminate vitamin and mineral deficiencies in developing countries. Although often only required by the body in very small amounts, vitamin and minerals – also known as micronutrients – support an array of critical biological functions including growth, immune function and eye function, as well as foetal development of the brain, the nervous system, and the skeletal system. Micronutrient deficiency is a form of malnutrition and is a recognized health problem in many developing countries. Globally, more than two billion people live with vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
People living with HIV/AIDS face increased challenges in maintaining proper nutrition. Despite developments in medical treatment, nutrition remains a key component in managing this condition. The challenges that those living with HIV/AIDS face can be the result of the viral infection itself or from the effects of anti-HIV therapy (HAART).
Malnutrition continues to be a problem in the Republic of South Africa, although it is not as common as in other countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Malnutrition is a condition that affects bodily capacities of an individual, including growth, pregnancy, lactation, resistance to illness, and cognitive and physical development. Malnutrition is commonly used in reference to undernourishment, or a condition in which an individual's diet does not include sufficient calories and proteins to sustain physiological needs, but it also includes overnourishment, or the consumption of excess calories.
Indira Chakravarty is an Indian public health specialist, scholar, environmentalist, and 2014 recipient of the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award by the Government of India, for her contributions to the fields of public health and environment.
Environmental enteropathy is an acquired small intestinal disorder characterized by gut inflammation, reduced absorptive surface area in small intestine, and disruption of intestinal barrier function. EE is most common amongst children living in low-resource settings. Acute symptoms are typically minimal or absent. EE can lead to malnutrition, anemia, stunted growth, impaired brain development, and impaired response to oral vaccinations.
Howarth E. "Howdy" Bouis, is an American economist whose work has focused on agriculture, nutrition outcomes, and reducing micronutrient malnutrition, also known as hidden hunger. He is the founder and former director of HarvestPlus, a global non-profit agricultural research program. Bouis was awarded the World Food Prize in 2016 for his pioneering work on biofortification.
The Food Fortification Initiative (FFI) is an organization that promotes the fortification of industrially milled flours and cereals. FFI assists country leaders in promoting, planning, implementing, and monitoring the fortification of industrially milled wheat flour, maize flour, and rice. FFI is the only global organization focused exclusively on these three widely consumed grains. FFI operates in approximately thirty countries worldwide and tracks food fortification progress for 196 countries.
