Nutritional assessments, food security and famine

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Nutrition Science
• Famine Studies

Background:

• Malnutrition is often viewed as a late famine indicator.
• Reduced food intake can be an early response to food insecurity.
• Late famine stages involve social disruption and degraded health environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• Challenge the traditional view of malnutrition as a late famine indicator.
• Broaden interventions to include livelihood support.
• Develop improved nutritional assessment methods.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods for nutritional assessment.
• Drew experience from the 1984-85 famine in Darfur.
• Advocated for assessing underlying causes of malnutrition.

Main Results:

• Evidence suggests deliberate food intake reduction as an early response to food insecurity.
• Social disruption and migration in late famine stages can increase mortality risk.
• Current nutrition surveys often lack analysis of malnutrition causes.

Conclusions:

• Malnutrition can be an early indicator of famine, necessitating livelihood support.
• An integrated approach to nutritional assessment is crucial for understanding and addressing malnutrition.
• The developed assessment approach shows applicability in other African regions.