Short Question for Lecture in Community Nutrition

Name : Lailil Indah Seftiani

Student ID : 030.09.134

1. Nutrition is important for all stages of life cycle. Why nutrition of elderly becomes
important for Indonesia?
2. What is stunting? Briefly explain the consequences of stunting.
3. What is the best time to introduce the complementary feeding to the infant? Please
explain briefly about nutrient gap and energy gap.
4. What biochemical indicators will you measure to know the vitamin A status of under
5 year old children in a village?
5. Why do pregnant women need iron supplements in developing countries?
Answers :
1. In elderly, theres common micronutrient deficiency such as vitamin B (B12, B2),
iron, folate, vitamin A, vitamin D, and zinc. Elderly had vulnerability to mulnutrition
like poor diet, food insecurity, lack of public health measures, and low allocation of
goverments fund. Because of that, the role of nutrition in elderly has huge impact on
health care system and countrys economy in Indonesia.
2. Stunting is having a height (or length) for age more than 2 SD below the median of
the NCHS/WHO international reference. It Implies long-term (chronic) malnutrition
and poor health. The consequences of stunting, there is growing evidence of the
connections between slow growth in height early in life and impaired health and
educational and economic performance later in life. For infants and young children,
stunting is associated with a weaker immune system and higher risk of severe
infectious diseases. When undernourished children become adults, they are more
likely to suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. It is
estimated that children under the age of five who are born to the shortest mothers (less
than 145 centimeters) have a 40 percent increased risk of mortality. Stunted women
have higher maternal mortality rates and are more likely to have small and
underweight babies, leading to a cycle of poor nutrition and poverty. A low birth
weight child is more likely to be shorter during adulthood than one not born with a
low birth weight. Stunted children are more likely to start school later and drop out,

and are less able to learn due to compromised brain and mental development at a
young age. Stunting at age two is associated with reduced school attendance of nearly
one year and a 16 percent increased risk of a child failing at least one grade while
attending school.
3. The best time to introduce the complementary feeding to the infant is at the age of 6
month. Because at the age of 6 month, breastfeeding cant cover all of the energy and
nutrient that the infant need. Breast milk alone will not be sufficient after 6 months,
There is an energy and nutrient gap between breastmilk to the needs of the infant. For
example, an iron in breastmilk only 10% but the infant required is 100%, so there is a
gap can only be met with complementary food.
4. Vitamin A is essential for growth, reproduction and immunity. Biomarkers of vitamin
A status are diverse, in part, due to its functions. Liver reserves of vitamin A are
considered the gold standard but this measure is not feasible for population
evaluation. Biomarkers of status can be grouped into two categories: (1) biological,
functional and histological indicators; and (2) biochemical indicators. Surrogate
biochemical measures of vitamin A status, as defined by liver reserves, have been
developed. Serum retinol concentration is a common method used to evaluate vitamin
A deficiency and the most common population indicator that can be measured to
know the vitamin A status of under 5 year old children in a village.
5. Iron supplements in developing countries are needed because iron-deficiency anaemia
is still a major public health problem in developing countries. Its prevalence among
pregnant women is particularly high. For example, in South-East Asia it is estimated
to be between 50% and 70%. Iron deficiency occurs if the amount of iron absorbed is
too little to meet the body's demands. This may be due to insufficient iron intake,
reduced bioavailability of dietary iron, chronic blood loss, or increased iron
requirements, as occurs during pregnancy or a period of growth. The most appropriate
way to improve iron status on a short-term basis is by taking iron tablets as
supplements.To reach large parts of a population, programmes have been designed to
distribute iron supplements through the public health-care system. Such programmes
proved to be efficient under field trial conditions and many countries, such as
Indonesia, started similar interventions. However, as opposed to other micronutrient
deficiencies such as vitamin A, limited progress has been made in solving the problem
of iron-deficiency anaemia during the past decade.