Maybe you are not too far from the real picture of malnutrition. This type of malnutrition is the most obvious and overt type that is ordinarily seen and loudly sends an SOS message immediately - precisely because it can be life threatening. I have heard it referred to as “mopakwana” in Setswana or that “ngwana o lesheke”.
But there is the silent type of malnutrition where someone including adults can go on for years without really expressing it in the most obvious physical manner, and they may not even know that they are malnourished. Hence scientists usually refer to this type of malnutrition as hidden hunger. It is scary and probably humbling to think that most people are actually walking around with malnutrition of one form or another without even knowing it.
Now let me put the hidden hunger under a magnifying lens for you. Hidden hunger is a result of a lack of one or in most cases multiple vitamins and minerals in the body. Vitamins and minerals are otherwise also known as micronutrients because they are required in tiny amounts by the body compared to carbohydrates i.e. starch for example. Remember that you get your vitamins and minerals from fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes.
Having said that the fact that you need them in tiny amounts DOES NOT mean that you only need a teaspoon of vegetables and one fruit in a week. Five or more portions of fruits per day are recommended. This will not turn you into a rabbit - I promise, maybe only a Hercules, I suspect.
Did you know [Gosh, that always reminds me of the chappies wrapper thing] that hidden hunger or micronutrient malnutrition is responsible for a lot of developmental impairment in children which leads to lack of mental acuity hence compromised performance in school and work later in adult life? Now that is big, isn’t it? But very true! Again here, the concept of starting early to prevent damage instead of trying to cure it is critical.
Okay, moving along and peeling more of the layers of hidden hunger, I now would like to address these micronutrients and their detrimental consequences one by one.
