Pope Benedict Says Hunger is Bad

Pope Benedict Says Hunger is Bad
January 18th, 2007
by Dr. John A. Carroll

The Scandal of Hunger

Checking babies that are malnourished is fairly easy. They don’t fight you much in the clinic during their exam, they sleep a lot in their mother’s arms, but if you do TOO much they don’t like, they become real irritable. This is in opposition to the babies that get enough to eat and are growing and thriving. A physician can recognize these “fat” babies from the door and we know they may fight from start to finish.

Over all it is fun checking babies because they did not ask to come to the doctor, did not make their appointment, and came against their will. And they are very happy to leave when the check up is over. But checking babies that just don’t get enough to eat kind of breaks one’s spirit.

Over all it is fun checking babies because they did not ask to come to the doctor, did not make their appointment, and came against their will. And they are very happy to leave when the check up is over. But checking babies that just don’t get enough to eat kind of breaks one’s spirit.

Malnutrition is an underlying factor in less than 50% of 10 million children’s deaths each year in the developing world who die from preventable causes such as respiratory illnesses (pneumonia) and diarrhea.

Inpatient units that treat malnutrition in poor countries are confronted by very ill patients who need skilled medical and nursing care. There are very few hospitals and very few staff that have the skills to know how to treat these special patients. Many members of the staff of the poor hospital are living in conditions as miserable as their patients. This definitely is true for Haiti.

Haiti is one of the most disadvantaged countries in the world. Haitians live on less than $2.00 US per day. Chronic malnutrition in Haiti is widespread among the most vulnerable with stunting affecting 40% of children under five years old. Daily food insecurity affects almost one half of Haitian homes. Haiti ranks with Afghanistan and Somalia as one of the three countries with the worst caloric deficit per inhabitant (460 kcal/day.)

And only 25% of Haitians have access to clean water.

Extreme poverty, political, social, and economic instability have exacerbated vulnerability to food insecurity to large sectors of the population of Haiti (8 million people).

When I see babies in the clinic in Port-au-Prince, unfortunately I have to wait until they have severe malnutrition until I can admit the baby to the malnourished program. Admitting them earlier would be ideal, but there is no space in the program. The slum has over 200,000 people.

We treat the babies admitted to the malnutrition program for acute infections, deworm the babies with anitparasitics, give them vitamins and minerals with extra large doses of Vitamin A, and provide two meals per day. The meals are high protein with meats, fish, beans and bean sauce. Vegetables such as carrots and spinach are mixed in as are rice, corn, and millet.

Powdered milk with clean water is given to the babies and mothers.

Mothers are taught how to feed the babies and watched closely that they don’t eat their baby’s food because the moms are hungry also. At the end of the day, leftover food is sent home for kids at home who are as equally as hungry. At home, in the slum, the kids are lucky to get a small portion of white rice each day.
The mothers are entered into a sewing programs while the babies are asleep and waiting for the second meal.Malnutrition is a real big problem all over the developing world. And it causes more than stunted or wasted babies. It causes other conditions that are irreversible.

In Barbados 204 children were studied who had malnutrition in their first year of life. The study went into their adolescence. The study found that:

1. IQ was 10-12.5 points less than the healthy control at several ages.2. Attention Deficit Disorder occurred in 60% compared to 15% of the controls.3. The malnourished had a short attention span, poor memories, distractibility and uncooperative behavior versus healthy controls.

Hunger Is Unacceptable in 2007, Says Pope Benedict
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 8, 2007 (Zenit.org)-

Benedict XVI says that the scandal of hunger calls for a change in ways of living, as the planet has sufficient resources for all its inhabitants.

The Pope made these comments today during the first part of his address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, in which he expressed his concerns about the situation of the world at the beginning of 2007.

The Holy Father said: “Among the key issues, how can we not think of the millions of people, especially women and children, who lack water, food, or shelter?
“The worsening scandal of hunger is unacceptable in a world which has the resources, the knowledge and the means available to bring it to an end.”
“It impels us to change our way of life,” the Pontiff continued, “it reminds us of the urgent need to eliminate the structural causes of global economic dysfunction and to correct models of growth that seem incapable of guaranteeing respect for the environment and for integral human development, both now and in the future.”

The Bishop of Rome invited “the leaders of the wealthiest nations to take the necessary steps to ensure that poor countries, which often have a wealth of natural resources, are able to benefit from the fruits of goods that are rightfully theirs.”

John A. Carroll, MDhttp://www.peoriasmedicalmafia.com/http:///