Malnutrition in Brazil, Mexico, and the United States
Malnutrition is a general term that includes many conditions, including under-nutrition, over nutrition and micronutrient deficiency diseases. Malnutrition is a serious threat to global public health it is the largest contributor to child mortality globally. According to the World Health Organization malnutrition is currently present in 45% percent of all cases of underweight births and inter-uterine growth restrictions and is estimated to be the cause of 1 million child deaths annually in the world. Studies have showed a correlation between childhood malnutrition and a decline in health. In addition, adults who have been previously malnourished as children experience lower educational achievement in adulthood and tend to give birth to smaller babies (World Health Organization, 2015). The causes of childhood malnutrition are complicated, diverse, interconnected and are often related to socioeconomic status in developing countries such as Brazil and Mexico when compared to the United States. The leading cause of malnutrition in children in developing countries like Mexico and Brazil is the lack of an adequate food supply (Fig. 1). A nutritious diet is necessary for children's growth, and without it children can experience higher rates of illness, chronic disease, anemia and other illnesses that often cause appetite sensation thus causing additional malnourishment. Under nutrition is calculated by comparing the weights or heights (or lengths) of children at a specific age and sex with the distribution of observed weights or heights in a reference population of presumed healthy children of the same age and sex and then calculating z-scores which is, the difference between a child's weight or height and the median value at that age and sex in the reference population, divided by the standard deviation (SD) of