Impacts of food and nutritional insecurity on child development

Abstract

Objective: Contribute to reflections on the impact of food and nutritional insecurity (FNI) on child development. Literature review: Child malnutrition compromises the body's immune defenses and increases the likelihood of infections, which in extreme situations can lead to early death, being the ninth most common cause of child mortality in Brazil. Approximately 40 million children under 5 years of age in Latin America and the Caribbean are overweight, being childhood obesity and associated diseases considered a risk for problems in adulthood. Hunger represents one of the expressions of food and nutritional insecurity, with hidden hunger considered a serious nutritional problem, with high prevalence rates in the world and characterized by the non-explicit nutritional deficiency of one or more micronutrients, which can be expressed by a permanent lack of food and/or nutrients. Final considerations: In this way, it can be considered that given the impacts of malnutrition, obesity and hidden hunger, caused by food and nutrition insecurity on child development, urgent and concrete actions are necessary to promote the quality of life and nutrition of children, also impacting the lives of their families.