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Health Check: The double burden of malnutrition in Mumbai slum children

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24/06/2015

The double burden of malnutrition in Mumbai slum children

BBC World Service - Health Check, The double burden of malnutrition in Mumbai slum children

Eating too much junk food in combination with nutrient-poor diets

Indian slum children who eat too much junk food; A Thai raw fish delicacy that can cause liver cancer; The call for Hepatitis E vaccinations in Nepal following the earthquake

The charity Sneha has just completed a new study which examined in detail the diets of 7000 children under the age of five living in slums or shanty towns in Mumbai. The researchers were led by David Osrin, Professor of Global Health at University College London, and found to their surprise that children not only had nutrient-poor diets but also many were eating a lot of unhealthy sugary, fried and salted snack foods. 

Liver flukes Thailand 
A delicacy made from raw fish in northeast Thailand carries a hidden health risk. The popular fish dish is known as koi plaa, but these fish can be infected with the larvae of liver flukes, which then live silently in the human body. They can potentially cause liver cancer years later. But as Jonathan Head reports, changing the eating habits who love their fish is not straightforward. 

Hepatitis E Nepal
A group of liver experts from around the world have written a letter to the journal The Lancet calling on the World Health Organisation to make Hepatitis E vaccines available in Nepal. They fear a combination of the disruption to sanitation caused by the earthquakes, coupled with the approaching monsoon season, could put the country at risk of a Hepatitis E epidemic. The virus is particularly dangerous for pregnant women and kills an estimated 10,000 women in Southern Asia each year. Dr Budda Basnya who leads the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit at Patan hospital, Kathmandu, is the first signatory on the letter. 


(Picture: Indian children in Mumbai enjoy ice lollies. Credit: Getty Images)

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