Introduction

Ethiopia has faced food shortages of different magnitude for the past decades because of the erratic rainfall and primitive farming. Undernutrition is caused by poor feeding and care, aggravated by illness. More than 50% of all deaths in under five years old children are caused by under nutrition.

According to the 2011 EDHS report, 44 % of under-five children are stunted, or too short for their age. This indicates chronic under nutrition. The children who survive may become locked in a cycle of recurrent illness and slow growth, diminishing their physical health, irreversibly damaging to their development and their cognitive abilities, and impairing their capacities.

In the previous study session, you have learnt how food and nutrients nourish the body to be healthy and function normally. In this session, you will be learning more about the common nutritional deficiency diseases so as to enable you identify the nutritional problems of your community and consider possible prevention and control strategies.

This study session will help you to gain basic knowledge about nutritional deficiency diseases (stunting, wasting, under weight and micronutrient deficiency diseases) that enable you to teach families or individuals in your community on the importance of consuming a healthy and balanced diet, and how to do this with the resources available to them.