Linking nutrition-health-agriculture

Abstract

Agricultural production is intimately linked with health and nutrition as a form of income, a source of food, and a cause of disease. Citing a variety of previous studies, this presentation demonstrates the complexity of the relationships among agriculture and food consumption, food safety, infection, and stunting. The authors demonstrate that increasing agricultural production does not necessarily result in improved nutrition: Although more food may be available, this greater yield may supplement income more than diet. Nutrition, they argue, is a function of decision-making on expenditures. Shifting to the topic of stunting and malnourishment, contaminated wastewater was emphasized as being more detrimental than food deficits and disease. The authors demonstrate that agricultural practices, such as raising livestock, can trigger malnutrition by contaminating drinking water. Constant exposure to this contaminated water results in environmental enteropathy, a state of chronic intestinal inflammation and blunted villi that inhibits nutrient absorption. Additionally, the gut microbiomes of malnourished children are described as less diverse than that of well-nourished children. Aflatoxins, also identified as a cause of stunting, low birth weight, and vulnerability to disease, were linked with unsafe post-harvest handling practices that facilitated the development of the fungi. The authors demonstrate that aflatoxins, environmental enteropathy, and expenditure decisions define the relationship between agriculture and malnutrition. They conclude by emphasizing the need to promote health and nutrition education while engaging in rigorous research to confirm the relationships between agriculture, nutrition, and health.