What is it?
The word malnutrition carries more meaning than simply a lack of food and being under nourished, as many people think. It also reflects when one does not consume the correct amount of healthy and balanced foods that the body requires to function at its fullest potential. All over the world, people struggle with different forms of malnutrition. The United States, Kenya and Nepal are three separate countries who deal uniquely with this issue.
United States of America
While people tend to think that the United States of America if not affected by malnutrition, it is because they do not know the correct definition. According to Sue Evans in her article “Poverty, obesity and malnutrition: myth vs. reality”, “a person can be well-fed calorically, yet suffer malnutrition because of what he eats, rather than how much he eats.” This is a problem the United States faces, also known as obesity. Evans continues on to explain how the right amount of caloric intake can often still result in a person being malnourished, especially in children,. She reveals, “a lack of knowledge about nutrition often leads to poor dietary choices.” According to the Food Research and Action Center website, “Two-thirds of U.S. Adults are overweight or obese.” The article continues on to explain, “About a quarter of 2-5 year olds and one-third of school-age children (including adolescents) are overweight or obese.” This problem in the United States is sometimes related to the income of a person. In an article written by Brandon Keim called “Homeless and Overweight: Obesity Is the New Malnutrition” the author writes, “A new survey finds that one in three homeless people in Boston are clinically obese, a number that casts in relief the strange reality of food in the 21st century United States. Not long ago, malnourishment was embodied by emaciation. Now it’s far more likely to be hidden in folds of fat.” The United States has begun to integrate many programs in schools that educate students on the importance of healthy eating so that the obesity and malnutrition rates begin to diminish. Michelle Obama, The First Lady, has created a plan to decrease childhood obesity. “Michelle Obama’s Anti-Obesity Plan” an article in the Chicago Tribune, describes the issue further, “Saying childhood obesity has tripled in the last 30 years, first lady Michelle Obama asked the nation’s mayors to help her battle an epidemic that could see today’s kids lead shorter lives than their parents.”
The following is a chart that depicts the countries with the highest obesity rates. The United States stands in first place. This graph shows clearly just how many are being affected by malnutrition.
I do not own the rights to this photo.
Links:
http://www.occasionalplanet.org/2012/02/24/poverty-obesity-and-malnutrition-myth-vs-reality/
http://frac.org/initiatives/hunger-and-obesity/obesity-in-the-us/
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/06/homeless-obesity/
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-health-michelle-obama-anti-obesity-initiative,0,7668255.story
Nepal
Nepal’s people are affected by two types of malnutrition known as stunting and wasting. According to Asian Development Bank Institute, “A child who is not as long or tall as expected may be stunted, meaning that a child did not grow to its full potential. Weight for height helps to identify children who are wasted, meaning that children do not weigh as much as they should for their height.” In Nepal, children are known to be subject to both conditions, meaning they do not have enough to eat and also have not been able to develop and grow to their fullest potential. A writer from The Journal of Pakistan Medical Students Blogs writes in a a post that, “Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) 2011, demonstrates that 41 percent of children under five in Nepal are stunted, 11 percent are wasted, and 29 percent were underweight.” The post also explains that this is most common in agricultural parts of the country. An article written by IRIN entitled “Nepal: Gender discrimination fuels malnutrition” readers learn exactly that. “Despite the physical demands of a woman’s daily life, boys and husbands eat first and are offered the most nutritious food, often leaving girls and women with leftovers.” Nepal is taking steps to decrease the statistics of malnutrition. The article continues to explain that, “The Nepal Red Cross, WFP and other NGOs are combating discrimination by mandating women’s participation in committees, trying to create opportunities for economic independence, and by improving education.” These steps eading away from gender discrimination will help the malnutrition in women. Another way that Nepal works towards decreasing malnutrition is documented in the aforementioned Journal of Pakistan Medical Students Blogs. The post writes that, “The Government of Nepal provides various nutritional services at different levels of health service. At the central level, the Ministry and Local Development (MOLD) coordinates child development programs with other relevant ministries and International Non Governmental Organizations.” Not only this, but according to The Himalayan Times: Programme to fight malnutrition, “the ministry will join hands with education, agriculture and local development ministries as well as water, sanitation and hygiene sectors.” The article continues to explain the plan by revealing, “There will also be increased coverage of the government’s micronutrient programme aimed at pregnant women, mothers and their infants, which will include more dosing with Vitamin A and iron to prevent anemia.”
Links:
http://blogs.jpmsonline.com/2012/08/06/get-acquainted-with-public-health-perspective/
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/93788/NEPAL-Gender-discrimination-fuels-malnutrition
http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Programme+to+fight+malnutrition&NewsID=292421
Kenya
Kenya is another country that, due to the weather conditions as well as other factors, is unable to provide enough food for the people to remain healthy. According to World Vision International and an article written by Lucy Murunga entitled, “Kenya: Malnutrition levels to increase further, report warns”, “Close to half a million children under the age of 5, as well as pregnant and lactating mothers are currently being affected by acute malnutrition throughout Kenya.” Acute malnutrition is another way of saying that there is not enough food to eat. Kenya is nearing the top of the most malnourished countries. For example, an article from Business Daily Africa, “Allowing Kenyans to suffer malnutrition is unacceptable” the author reveals, “Kenya stands at number 54 out of 79 nations on the global hunger index.” In Kenya, one of the main reasons for this problem is “unsustainable use of land, water and energy resources.” This fact is reiterated in, “Nutritional Crisis Now Acute: Malnutrition Spikes in Northern Kenya” when the factors are more thoroughly explained. It says, “Conditions have grown harsher after the failure of three consecutive rainy seasons-beginning in 2006-imposing dry seasons on communities, animals and crops.” Action Against Hunger, where this article is found, is taking strides to end malnourishment in Kenya. The article says, “We call on all national and international donors to expedite emergency funding in support of existing programs in the region. Hundreds of lives are at stake.” Many organizations are helping Kenya through this current struggle and aim to put an end to this issue. Helen Keller International is, “strengthening the impact of feeding programs in priority districts in Kenya and ensuring that children with severe malnutrition can be appropriately treated to recovery.” Overall, it is clear that all forms of malnutrition are a threat and those affected by these conditions should be helped.
This photo shows a child in Kenya who is affected by malnourishment. This photo demonstrates just how severe the issue is and how necessary it is that malnutrition is stopped.
I do not own rights to this photo.
Links:
http://www.wvi.org/wvi/wviweb.nsf/updates/533FDF95202F4F0488257903005D3668?opendocument
After reviewing the freedom of Malaysia, Nepal and Laos, I found that Malaysia’s freedom on a scale from 1-100 is between the two countries. At 63 out of 100, Malaysia is considered not free, Laos is an 84 out of 100, also not free and Nepal, considered “partly free” of the three is a 55 out of 100. Nepal, at one point, was also “not free” and it was not until a large political adjustment, and Nepal becoming a republic, that this changed. In Nepal, the press is run by the government. Kim’s post explained that the government is in charge of what is put on the radio, because this is Nepal’s main source of news. In Laos the President, Choumally Sayasone, is in charge of the media. According to keyloom.com, it is “9.75 worst country in the world for press freedom.” The content placed in the media in Laos must be subjective. In Malaysia, people are requesting that the Prime Minister allow freedom of the press. In one of the links below (en.rsf.org) there is a letter written from Reporters without Borders that expresses their concern regarding Malaysia’s minimal freedom of press. Overall, the three countries are all on the mid to lower scale of freedom, but there are both similarities and differences in how they are run.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/5/5/nation/11228567&sec=nation
http://en.rsf.org/malaisie-media-freedom-in-malaysia-is-far-15-05-2012,42628.html
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/
- The website does not use hyperlinks to credit their material. This makes it hard for readers to learn more background information and confirm facts. Something that I found interesting was the “About” tab in the bottom of the footer. The information and goals given seem genuine. It says, “Our goal is to get hold truth and drag it out for all to see. In pursuit of the truth, we spare no effort to get our facts right, correct, our mission going.” The site also quotes their sources.
- The website lists an address under their “contact” tab in the footer of the page. This confirms that is is a real organization.
- The writers for the stories do not have biographies written about them. When you click on the name of someone who wrote a story, it links to other stories they have written, as opposed to information about them. The contact information informs readers that “FreeMalyasiaToday.com is operated by Mtoday News and. Bhd.” and gives an address. This helps confirm credibility.
- Like I pointed out in question three, there are no biographies or any information given on the authors writing the stories.
- It is very easy to contact those who work for Free Malaysia Today. There are many phone numbers, email addresses and addresses given.
- The design of the site is very professional. It is organized and there are tabs and a footer. It is very easy to navigate around the page and there is also a search bar which can help readers find exactly what they are looking for. There is a side bar that holds a section for videos, letters, etc.
- Similar to number 6, I think the site is very helpful and easy to navigate through. It is very thorough and the tabs are clear. The site has a section for everything.
- The site is updated frequently which provides credibility. The news is current.
- The site has advertisements, but they are not distracting or flashy. There is a banner at the top and ads down the right hand side. The ad placement is organized and neat. There also aren’t any pop ups.
- I did not notice any errors on the site. There weren’t any misspellings that I found and because there aren’t any links, there were no broken links.
Overall, I would give this site a 3 out of 5 for credibility. The site is well organized and full of recent information and I really like the layout. However, the lack of links and information on their authors gives the site less credibility.
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/
- The site quotes their sources, but there were no corresponding hyperlinks with the stories.
- The site gives an address which shows that there is a real organization behind the information. The about page is very informative.
- The about page offers each member of the staff with a contact email, twitter page and position title. They are organized by team. I think this gives the site a lot of credibility.
- There are no biographies for the members of the staff, however, like I mentioned in number three, every member is listed and their contact email is given.
- The page offers contact information for the site, the employees and an address. There is a phone number for advertisement and email addresses.
- The sites layout is good, but there is a lot going on. There are a lot of colors. There is a lot of advertisement that surrounds the page from the top and both sides.
- The site is easy to use because it has many of the articles right on the homepage. There are also many specific tabs at the top of the page.
- The site’s information is updated frequently.
- There are a ton of ads on the page. Many of the ads flash and blink which causes a lot of distraction. There are no pop up ads.
- I did not come across any typography errors or broken links.
Overall, I would give this site a 3.5 out of 5. The page did not offer biographies about the authors and there were not links to follow. Also, I found there to be too many advertisements for one page.
Country: China
Article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203406404578073670329669346.html#
- What kind of content am I encountering?
The content that I encountered in the article “China’s Take on U.S. Foreign Policy Debate” was an article based on the way China felt about the candidates statements regarding China specifically. The article expressed that China was not addressed nearly as much as other topics. The content used quotes from both candidates regarding their position on the matter and also comments from others who used social media sites. The article revealed that China did not stream the election and, therefore, residents found other summaries and analyses of the debate to become informed. The article was not necessarily an overview of the debate. Some of the information given was objective.
- Is the information complete? If not, what is missing?
The information in this article does not give a synopsis of the entire foreign policy debate. The article is based on the portion of the debate where the candidates addressed China and the how people commented through social media. The article is missing a general overview of the whole debate and their take on how Obama and Romney addressed issues with other countries, such as Syria, Iran and Israel. The article is very specific to China and does not offer information outside of this. The lack of information given can be a result of there being no coverage of the debate in China. The article states, “The debate wasn’t broadcast in China, which keeps a tight leash on its media, though it received brief and neutral coverage on the national noon television show. Still, online streams were available to China’s growing ranks of savvy Internet users.”
- Who or what are the sources, and why should I believe them?
The article comes from Beijing and is written by Josh Chin. The article is credible because there are distinct quotes used from the debate from each candidate, and there is no strong bias present. Not only did the author quote both Obama and Romney, he used other credible sources as well. For example, the article consists of words from Hong Lei who is the China Foreign Ministry spokesman, as well as quotes from two different experts on U.S.-China relations, Zhu Feng from Peking University in Beijing and Susan Shirk, from University of California, San Diego. I think that the quotes and facts given provide a strong basis for readers to believe the source.
- What evidence is presented, and how was it tested or vetted?
The evidence that is presented comes very much from quotes and opinions of other credible sources. The information is vetted by the use of quotes that come straight from the debate and verify that the words used are accurate. There is also a corresponding slideshow of photos, and also an interactive transcript. These bits of information help readers to better understand both what was said in the debate, and what the article is referring to. Another interesting piece of evidence is the bar graph on the side of the article, informing readers the “percentage of people very closely or somewhat closely following U.S. Elections, ranked by 2012 figures” broken down by country, in comparison to 2008.
- What might be an alternative explanation or understanding?
While I do not think that the point of this article was necessarily to give an analysis of the debate, I think an alternative explanation that the article could have supported would be to explain the candidates’ views on other issues and how they felt about those in comparison to the way the candidates handled the issues involving China. However, I like that the article was personal to its country and offered other forms of information, like the transcript and bar graph previously mentioned.
- Am I learning what I need to?
Yes, I am learning what I need to from this article. After watching the debate, I believe it is essential for viewers to know the opinions of the countries that were spoken about. It is important to see the debate from all sides of the spectrum and so I believe this article really helped me identify with more viewpoints.
Country: Palestine
Article: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4295997,00.html
- What kind of content am I encountering?
The article entitled, “Palestinians give cool reception to US debate” addresses the problem found in the debate’s lack of coverage on the Israeli- Palestinian conflict and the suggestion that there will be trials ahead. The article quotes Nabil Abu Rudaina, who says, “But is should be clear to the United States that without solving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, there will be no success for the American Policy in the Middle East.”
The content of the article also reveals the Palestinian’s view on each candidate. The article states, “But Obama failed to persuade Israel to halt settlement construction, and substantive peace efforts have remained frozen throughout his term.” The article continues to explain the Palestinian position on Romney by saying, “At the same time, the Palestinians are deeply wary of Romney, who declared earlier this year that the Palestinian’s have “no interest whatsoever” in peace.” The content provides readers with a clear view of the way the Palestinian’s feel about each candidate.
- Is the information complete? If not, what is missing?
The information given in the article is complete, I feel. Although it does not explain Palestine’s views on other issues, the article touches on the lack of coverage that the candidates gave to the subject, and it goes into detail as to why the author feels this conflict should have been talked about. I think the background information that the article gives is key in understanding the point that the author is making. The information and opinions seem honest and clear. While there is no information given on the other topics debated over, I feel that the information that was given was very thorough.
- Who or what are the sources, and why should I believe them?
The article uses credible sources. For example, it quotes a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization named Hanan Ashrawi. The article also links to other pages which increases the credibility. Another interesting fact is that the article was shared on both Facebook and Twitter. The article also link to other articles that are “Related stories.” I think that this shows other opinions which instills credibility. The circulation of this article solidifies credibility.
- What evidence is presented, and how was it tested or vetted?’
The evidence presented is in the form of both quotes and a video clip. I think the background alone provides a solid amount of verifiable evidence. There is also no bias towards either candidate, however, an opinion of each is given. Also, there are links to other articles so that readers know who or what is being written about. For example, there is a link to a page about Benjamin Netanyahu, to explain the background information on the Prime Minister.
- What might be an alternative explanation or understanding?
I do not think that this article requires an alternative explanation. I found it to be extremely informative on the issue it was addressing. The article did not outline the entire debate, but only the issues that related to it’s country and the portion that involved Palestine.
- Am I learning what I need to?
This article has taught me a lot and I am learning what I need to. I think the history given in this content is very informative and has helped me to better understand the position that Palestine is taking in regard to the debate and the election as a whole.
Conclusion: Overall, I think these secondary sources clarified much of the debate for me. Initially, I did not understand a lot of what was being talked about and had a hard time paying attention. I re-watched the debate and was able to grasp more and understand the beliefs of each candidate. The articles provided opinions, however, I do not believe that facts were distorted in either article because there were facts and credible quotes to back up the opinions. Both sources gave personal reasoning to their countries to credit the facts they used. One example is how the Palestinian article expressed that the debate spoke a lot about Israel, but lacked information regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It said, “Neither President Barack Obama nor Republican challenger Mitt Romney spoke much about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during Monday night’s debate. Both men, however, took great efforts to voice support for Israeli’s security, in an apparent gesture to influential Jewish voters.” In conclusion, I think that these articles were both great insight into how others reacted to the debate.
Music in the continent of Asia is unique to each country and culture, but there is a similar underlying base that I found between my country, Malaysia, and my classmates countries, Laos and Nepal. While conducting my own research, I came to find out that Malaysia values traditional sounds and instruments. There is a lot of percussion, which at one point was used to send messages of importance. Overtime, the instruments became apart of social gatherings and celebrations as well. While pop music and rock are becoming more prominent in Malaysia, there will always be a strong commitment to the traditional music that originated here.
Similar to the Malaysian social gatherings where traditional music is performed, the classical music of Laos is ceremonial. Laos and Nepal both have two types of music that each country focuses on, classical and folk. In Malaysia, music is split between traditional and Western. The traditional style music background to each country unites the countries in that they each value the original sounds of their music. There are many similarities in the instruments used in each country. Both Nepal and Laos used an instrument similar to a flute or a whistle and each country uses a variety of drums and other percussion instruments. Overall, the music between these three countries is unique, but there is also a strong connection to the music that originated in each country.
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/world/article/five-things-to-watch-in-the-us-presidential-debate/
The Malaysian Insider, “Five things to watch in the US presidential debate”
Country Music
Thanksgiving!
John Lennon Wall
Tapas
(Images seen above came from Google)
Journalism 470 