Gone are the days when we would just reason out our genes or that being short is innate among certain groups of people. While genes play a role in growth and development, the impact of factors other than genes which we can just collectively refer to as environment play a greater role. Thus, global standards of measuring growth had been developed for use by different countries, enabling comparison of malnutrition rates. Good nutrition is the foundation of good health and both have an impact on a nation’s development.
Throughout life, all of us need the same kinds of nutrients – carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins, minerals and water. Only the amount varies depending on age, sex and physiological conditions. Each and every cell in our body needs to be nourished. The nutrients provided by the foods we eat and some beverages we drink nourish determine the integrity of our cells. The nutrients also determine the extent of growth and development.
Malnutrition, resulting from the lack, insufficiency, excess or imbalance of nutrients, remains persistent locally and globally. One manifestation of long term lack or insufficiency is stunting or having a low height compared to age, particularly among children. Others are low weight-for-age (wasting), low weight for height (underweight), vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
Used to describe being too short for age among 0-5 years old children, stunting is most prevalent of the weight- and height-related problem. It affects one in every three Filipino preschool children, ranking the country fifth with the highest prevalence among countries in the East Asia and Pacific Region and one among the 10 countries in the world with the highest number of stunted children according to WHO data, as cited Basalong (2012). In the Cordillera Administrative Region, NNC-CAR (2023) reports a 5.96% prevalence or 6 in every 100 children based on 2023 OPT Plus data. Stunting is detrimental not only in terms of physical growth but also impacts of future health, mental, cognitive, emotional and social aspects of the individual.
Of the six nutrients, only carbohydrates, protein and fats provide the energy or fuel (expressed or measured in calories) for the body’s daily activities. The last three nutrients enumerated above, regulate the numerous body processes. The body’s priority is the provision of energy for involuntary activities or processes happening inside the body such as but not limited to beating of the heart, breathing, digestion. Protein in particular, has the unique function of growth and repair of body tissues. However, growth is not the priority and thus happens only when the body’s need for energy is satisfied. When the energy from carbohydrates and fats are not enough to provide what the body needs, the protein which otherwise should be used for growth, shall be utilized by the body to provide energy. If this happens for quite a long period of time, growth will be hampered and one will not reach his/her maximum growth potential. Such is the case among the many stunted people.
Stunting develops as early as pregnancy. If a pregnant woman suffered from malnutrition, the fetus can get affected resulting in intrauterine growth retardation. Upon birth, the newborn may have low birth weight and length, implying there is growth to catch up. Infancy (birth to 11 months) is the period of fastest growth such that when food, health and care remains lacking, growth is not maximized and the critical opportunity is missed. By age two, stunted growth can be very noticeable.