Food Under Consumption and Under Nutrition - A Problem of Poor

 

I always think about this anecdote – a train is made up of one or more engines or locomotives followed by wagons or compartments. What is the energy requirement or consumption for a locomotive front engine which provides the propulsion for entire train. What is the consumption requirement for the following wagon cars. Can an engine pull the entire train if it is not consuming enough energy, or it is not ‘eating enough’. If a train has to pull a trailing 10 cars and require 1 gallon of fuel per minute, then can the same engine pull the entire train when it is provided without anything to consume. If the engine is consuming very less, can it pull the coaches and its own self. What happens when it is the state of affairs where the engines are consuming very less for the output or routines it has been subjected to. The engine will break down and the train will no longer continue its journey. I mean to say the energy consumption for the front engines and trailing coaches will be entirely different. Both should be treated differently as per their needs. Because they are machines, the engines will stop working when it is not ‘eating enough’. What if we have similar human chains where the first person needs to pull an entire chain. What if the first person isn’t fed enough and still need to pull everyone. What if the first person is still pulling everyone without breaking down and consuming very less. What will happen to the physical structure of such a person when he is doing this as a regular routine – working full throttle while consuming far less. Trains will break down because they are machines, but humans will not, without any complaint or refusal. This is the goodness of a human machine. The essence of this analogy is to hit home the point that everyone needs to ‘eat’ or ‘consume’ as per their workloads or requirements. Without this consumption, there is a need to discourage the routines from crossing dangerous lines. It is a blessing to pull everyone on your back and it is indeed a blessing if you are consuming aptly enough. 

Talking about the consumption of humans, the world suffers from two types of problems at large. The two problems relate to the food intake or energy requirements or fuel to our physical vehicles. As seen, without giving adequate intake, we cannot function properly. Of the two problems, one is overconsumption of energy and the second is underconsumption. In the remaining of the post, we will tackle these two problems where the former stems from west or U.S. and the second stems from countries like India. Every major food crisis in the world has its roots in under nutrition or malnutrition or eating far less than required. The point which I have made so far in the post relates to the situation when a person is having very little intake than required. Let us look at it in a few dimensions to create a world with food stability and security. 

Undernutrition is a problem which is directly related to poverty and inequality in the world around us. Both are directly proportional and the drop in poverty can improve proper consumption. When countries like India becomes rich enough, every child and adult will escape from the clutches of hunger and malnutrition. In general, every 1 in 2 children is undernourished in 1990 in India. I fall into that bracket as a child where good food is always a luxury and few can afford in those days. Or there is no general sense to eat overly or sufficiently. The prevailing general sense is to eat very limitedly. The environment prevailed has our stomachs at half full or less most of the time. The fallout is the presence of more than 50% malnutrition during my childhood days. The environment has gradually improved over time and now nearly 1 in 3 is affected with undernutrition. The same is less than 5% of total population in developed world and U.S. or less than 1 in 20 suffers due to consuming less than required. Hence, this chronic malnutrition is a problem of poor and middle-class worldwide. This is a serious problem which looks for solution in the present world. 

The world is currently facing a food crisis of unprecedented proportions, with several key issues contributing to this situation. The largest driver of hunger is conflict, with 70% of the world’s hungry living in areas affected by war and violence. Events like the conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza etc exacerbate the situation by displacing people and disrupting economies. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to economic instability, affecting food security for millions. The number of people affected by hunger rose to as many as 828 million in 2021, an increase from previous years. A significant portion of the global population is facing moderate to severe food insecurity. The gender gap in food insecurity is also rising, with more women affected than men. Nearly 3.1 billion people of 8 billion total world population could not afford a healthy diet in 2020, reflecting the effects of inflation on consumer food prices due to the various reasons and other economic impacts. The problems point to huge imbalances in the food on our plates across the land. 

The world, however, is currently producing enough food to theoretically feed all of its people. It is estimated that global food production is sufficient to feed 1.5 times the world’s current population. In fact, there is enough food produced to feed 10 billion people, which is more than the current global population. 

However, despite this abundance, hunger and food insecurity persist due to a variety of factors, including economic inequality, distribution challenges, food wastage, and the impacts of conflicts and climate change. These issues prevent equitable access to food for everyone and are significant contributors to the ongoing food crisis. Addressing these challenges is crucial to ensure that the food produced is effectively reaching those in need. 

 

The opposite of this – obesity or overnutrition is a problem of plenty in many western countries and U.S. The prevalence of obesity has been steadily increasing in the Western world over the past few decades. This trend is particularly pronounced in high-income countries where access to calorie-dense foods and sedentary lifestyles are common. In U.S., as per CDC, obesity is prevalent in 42% of population or nearly half of the population suffers due to increased nutrition intake. The same is the case in other parts of the world where millions of adults are found to be affected by problems of plenty. There is a need to balance the two problems – obesity and malnutrition by giving something from the former to the latter. This is how the world should co-exist – by spreading uniformity and treating the problems of plenty and problems of scarcity. If U.S. is more charitable, it will be good for its health and if India is willing to change its environment of meagerness and more willing to fill the stomachs to its potential, it will be good for it. 

 

To summarize, no kid or adult should be consuming far less than they should or consume more than they can cope up. Adequate food intake is essential for growth, development, and maintaining good health. It’s important for societies to work towards eliminating hunger and ensuring food security for all, so that underconsumption and its associated health risks can be addressed effectively.