The phenomenon of stunting in cv Zachheus Stands Tall

CEBU, Philippines -  He was known to be a man of little stature. He bobbed his head, stretched his neck, pressed upon bodies seeking to see Jesus the Christ who entered into Jericho.  "Oh, if I could only get a glimpse of the Messiah," his thought pained his heart.  He ran, went ahead,then climbed a sycamore tree that he might see Jesus pass that way. "Me?" Zachheus could hardly believe what he was hearing while pointing his index finger to his chest. "Yes, you," Jesus said as He looked at Zaccheus looking incredulous, perched on a bough of the sycamore tree.

"Zachheus, make haste. Come down, for today I must abide at your house," Jesus said. "Yes Lord, yes Lord," Zaccheus answered as he scurried and rappelled himself down the tree. Running with mixed feelings and mixed thoughts, Zaccheus said to himself, "How did he know my name? How could he have seen me from the tree when it was me looking for him?"

Although Zaccheus was a short man, he was of high stature in the community - meaning he was rich. Catching his breath as he reached home, he immediately set his house in order, calling the chef to prepare the best menu and the chief of his servants to prepare a special chamber for the Messiah. Truly Jesus Christ has ways of making the physically stunted to stand tall. Zaccheus must have felt a sense of frustration and inferiority at being short, but his spirituality made him taller than any man.

The Long Story Short.

Stunting is more than just being short. Stunting is a chronic restriction of growth where a child or person is of low height for age or short for his age. Nutrition Officer 3 Susan Orpilla of the National Nutrition Council in Region 7 disclosed that four in every 10 children aged 0-60 months (or five years old) in Central Visayas are underheight for their age, or stunted. Orpilla made the revelation during the eighth congress of the Barangay Nutrition Scholars held in Cebu City last November 7.

Based on accumulated statistics since October this year, stunting in Central Visayas is caused by chronic malnutrition over a long period of time. Stunting is associated with impaired physical and mental development in children and is an irreversible condition. So irreversible that even if a child who is stunted in the first five years gains good nutrition in his sixth or seventh year, this cannot reverse impaired brain development as he grows to adulthood.

The National Nutrition Council in Region 7 said there is cause for alarm among the children in Central Visayas. Among the 0 to 5 years old, undernutrition remains a public health problem particularly high in magnitude for both for underweight (21.6%) , and  stunting (38.6%).

Children who are stunted during the first two and five years of their lives, irreversibly become short for life and even cognitive slow for life. Undernourished children are more likely to become short adults, have lower educational attainment and will most likely give birth to smaller infants.  Hence stunting is an inter-generational phenomenon.These are not as bad as missing the opportunity to see the Messiah like Zaccheus, unless miraculously, the Messiah sees you.

There is substantial evidence linking stunting to cognitive development and school performance. Because stunting is caused by under nutrition, stunting affects brain development and also impairs motor skills.  Studies show that stunted children are more likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular and metabolic disease, as young adults.

Traced To Maternal Undernutrition.

Stunting has also been traced to maternal undernutrition. Orpilla said that stunting or growth retardation is a result of poor or inadequate diets (food insecurity) or recurrent infections occurring for a long period of time. Long term nutritional deprivation often results in delayed mental development and increasing risk for illness and death.

In Central Visayas, one in every four pregnant women is nutritionally undernourished and is at risk of having pregnancy-related complications or the risk of delivering low birth weight in infants. Orpilla said the highest proportion of nutritionally at- risk pregnant women were noted among those in the first trimester of pregnancy and decreases as pregnancy advances.

Maternal undernutrition has inter-generational effects. This means that an undernourished mother eventually passes on the undernutrition to the generations after her, unless interventions are done in her generation.

Stunt Stunting.

Maternal and child undernutrition can be reduced through nutrient supplements and food fortification. Vitamin A and zinc interventions can reduce death. Iodisation of salt is another effective way to provide nutrients through fortification. Universal calcium and iron and folic acid supplementation during pregnancy could prevent undernutrition and stunting.

Orpilla said what prevents stunting is for mothers to consciously and regularly have their children checked for growth monitoring. "No one will know if there is growth faltering in a child unless a mother approaches health workers who will make the measurements," Orpilla said. Only then will mothers be given nutrition counselling both for her and her child.

Climbing sycamore trees to be noticed and healed was true only for Zaccheus' time. Mothers must consciously seek health workers to determine the growth trends, that includes weight for age, height for age and weight for height of their children before stunting and wasting is aggravated. Where the impact of stunting is irreversible, early detection is the best option to stop the stunting. It's not climbing sycamore trees. (FREEMAN)