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Essay / Case study on child malnutrition in India - 1217
Fenske et al. organize the factors that cause stunting in Indian children into underlying, intermediate, proximate, and non-modifiable factors (Figure 2) (Fenske, Burns, Hothorn, & Rehfuess, 2013). Although stunting is one aspect of malnutrition, the intermediate determinants identified represent many of the pathways through which programs could aim to address child malnutrition in India. Review of nutritional interventions in India to address malnutrition, such as breastfeeding, promotion of complementary feeding through education or provision of food, and supplementation with one or more nutrients, shows impacts significant on malnutrition-related behaviors, but only modest impacts on reversing the effects of malnutrition (Fenske, Burns, Hohorn, & Rehfuess, 2013). It is therefore important to consider the many social determinants that affect childhood malnutrition in order to effectively treat and reverse the effects of malnutrition..