A National Program for Understanding and Addressing Malnutrition in Timor-Leste Track: Health Policy and HealthCare Management

Abstract

Malnutrition the highest risk factor in the global burden of disease, estimated to cost 11% of GDP. It is a result of many forms of inadequacies & deprivation quantity and types of food consumed, poor feeding practices and exposure to infection & disease. Studying child malnutrition is important, especially in Timor where the Timor-Leste population has a high proportion of children who continue to face a heavy health & economic burden in years to come. In this paper we explore all multiple dimensions of nutrition. We find that the typical 5 Timorese child is Stunted, Mildly thin and Underweight. This suggests they generally receive sufficient calories for day-to-day living, but have long-term deprivations in micronutrients essential for growth & development. In this paper, we suggest interventions for mitigating these effects.