Malnutrition In Australia

Malnutrition is often linked to poverty and thought to be significant issue around the world, especially in developing countries. But the current statistics point out that it’s not prevailing problem of developing countries or third world , but a significant number of elderly and children in Australia and other developed countries also suffer from this insidious condition, which has some very serious repercussions. The World Health Organisation and the OECD have expressed concern at the rates of obesity and its cost to individuals in terms of their health and costs to governments in terms of health care. Obesity is now seen as a major epidemic.

Malnutrition is a medical condition when the body doesn’t get nutrients for its functioning. This

Improvised medical conditions impair the absorption of nutrients from ingested food. Patient on medication of antibiotics and chemotherapy complain loss of appetite and killing the natural flora of the intestine which help in nutrients absorption. Physiological changes related to growing old also impacts the nutrient digestion as has been observed due to less secretion of acid in elderly which lowers their iron and calcium intake making them prone to bone related problems and anaemia.

Other than medical issues, social factors are equally contributing to the malnourishment in Australian population. Living in isolation and inadequate food security due to poverty along with lack of the balanced meals preparations compound the problem in adults. The older population of Australia suffers malnutrition (under nutrition) due to inadequate consumption of calories and protein.

Revised Australian Dietary Guidelines (2013) has outlined balanced and nutritious diet which is accessible to majority of Australians. Guidelines include food material naturally available to the masses in Australia. The persistence of the deficiency in micronutrient lifestyle is resultant of the poor adherence to recommendations in the

This task is challenging as interaction of social and cultural factors should also be considered instead of blaming individuals or the food companies In the NNPAS, 2.3 million Australians aged over 15 years reported being currently on a diet. This is in contradiction in the light of increasing rates of obesity and overweight. The recent NNPAS reported that 35 per cent of the dietary energy of Australians was derived from “junk” foods. Aspects of food supply, such as the availability of safe “junk” food, may contribute to this contradiction. Australian market is flooded with “junk foods” which are well marketed, available across and easy to prepare. “Junk” food holds a large proportion of each supermarket, with several products claiming being healthy such as containing ‘wholegrain’ but loaded with high sugar snack bars and ‘fat-free’ confectionary. The continuous high intake of these foods creates a truly obesogenic environment in addition to sedentary