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Hello, fellow Steemian friends, trust you are all faring very well in your different locations. I am glad to participate again in this contest.

Malnutrition in children is a condition resulting from a poor or insufficient diet, that is, a diet that does not contain all the quantities of normal nutrients. In some cases, it could be a physical condition where nutrients are not well metabolised into the body due to certain diseases.

Several factors, such as insufficient food supply due to the lack of development in the agricultural sector, boost food production and sustainability. Inadequate distribution of food owing to socio-economic problems of poverty, bad governance, and faulty family values leading to the negligence of children. Children in developing countries such as Africa, Asia and South America are the most affected by malnutrition. In these instances, the problem of malnutrition is usually found in a diet that is deficient in protein or good calories. Certain foods containing one or more of the essential vitamins and minerals are not included in the diet. This invariably leads to nutritionally deficient diseases like kwashiorkor, a pale appearance, and stunted growth.

Let's proceed further into the topic using the contest tips:

What's the problem that children can face due to malnutrition?

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Malnutrition in children can cause a protein deficiency disease called kwashiorkor. Children with kwashiorkor disease often look lean, pale, and have a bloated stomach. The protruded stomach has eaten all their flesh, leaving the child with a skeletal look and flappy, twisted skin. The child will lack the strength and stamina to walk, and won't be able to compete with his counterpart because he looks so sick to death owing to the disease.

Additionally, the problem that malnourished children face is the issue of incessant hunger leading to a deficiency in Vitamin B1 (thiamine)
The child lacks enough available food as a balanced diet or may only rely on a regular white rice as a staple, leading to the prevalence of vitamin B1 deficiency. This problem makes the children look underweight compared to their normal unit of arm circumference (MUWWAC).

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Another problem of malnutrition in children is stunted growth. When children are not given a balanced diet, they will not have the required body vitamins and nutrients for growth. The children will look pale and sick, having weak bones and slack skin, looking feeble with a skeletal body, and as such, will not attain the optimal growth level for their age. They will be dull academically and won't be able to compete with their contemporaries in any given measure, seeing as they are stunted due to malnutrition.

Share the factors contributing to malnutrition

Many factors, including social and economic variables, contribute to malnutrition in children. First is poverty, children from poor homes and from poor developing nations are prone to being malnourished. Parents in this kind of social structure lack the money to afford quality food for their children. They are jobless or underemployed, they cannot afford the capital to acquire land or the equipment to mechanise agriculture for food security and sustainability. Children born into this family tend to suffer malnutrition.

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• Bad governance is another contributing factor to child malnutrition. This gives birth to an improper distribution of national wealth and government incentives to improve the lives of low income earners. A corruption laden government will syphon public funds to the scoffers of a few political elites, making only the political class rich while the citizens wallow in penury. They will make harsh economic policies that will lead to inflation, which will ultimately make parents incapable of providing a balanced diet for their children.

• Poor family values are also a factor that leads to malnutrition in children. Most children are born out of wedlock to a scattered parents who are careless or even totally negligent of their wellbeing. These parents brought the children into the world without planning for their basic needs. The children will be left at the mercy of the poor grandparents, who roam the street starving. Most poor parents also contribute by having more children than they can care for, making them incapable of providing the basic nutritional balance for the children. They could only afford one carbohydrate food, leaving the other types of food necessary for a balanced diet.

• Insecurity, which leads to communal and regional crises and insurgencies This social problem leads to some parents dying in the terrorism war, leaving their children in IDP camps to suffer malnutrition problems. African and Asian children from countries such as Nigeria, Somalia, Yemen, Syria etc suffer from the insurgency of Boko-Haram in Northern Nigeria, Somalia from Al-Shabaab and ISIS from Syria.

How can we prevent a child from these issues?

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• Malnutrition can be prevented by parents engaging in agriculture and farming to increase the yield of food crops and ensure food security and sustainability.

• Malnutrition can be prevented by the government shunning economic and financial crimes and distributing public funds to the designated areas of the economy that need development. Government to diversify the economy to an accelerated rural-urban agricultural development using mechanised farming to boost food production, provide employment opportunities, food security, and sustainability. This will enable average and low income earners to have access to quality food to feed their children.

• Creating awareness and educating citizens on the need for proper family values. Citizens should be informed of the implications of having children not planned for, having children carelessly, and the devastating impact of divorce on growing children. They should be made to understand that children should be well fed by both parents together and to enjoy other basic universal needs.

• The government's provision of a secure environment for its citizens and for them to take drastic measures to stamp down terrorism and its proxies.

you can give suggestions to improve health care of children in developing countries?

The following suggestions, if taken, can help curtail malnutrition in children:

• Agricultural development by both the government and the citizens to boost food production for food security and sustainability.

• Proper family planning for bringing up healthy children.

• Families should get adequate education on food and nutrition intake from experts so that they will be conscious of the kind of food mix and ration intake needed for a balanced diet.

• The government's responsibility to provide a decent economic and social environment that is suitable for bringing up children and their well-being should be prioritised by all.

Malnutrition is a physical condition where children are poorly fed a balanced diet, which leads to a deficiency in certain nutrients and vitamins in the body. Many factors, ranging from poverty, insecurity, corruption, the unavailability of sufficient food due to negligence in agriculture, and poor family values, are the major causes of malnutrition in children. All the foregoing factors can be prevented by developing agriculture, food security, and sustainability, prioritising national security, providing solutions to sensitive socio-economic problems, and establishing a well planned family values.

I invite my friends and colleagues @bossj23 @okere-blessing @eveetim to participate in the contest.