172 Eating for Good Health
Poor
Nutrition
Can Cause
Disease
➤ For more
information about
malaria, parasites,
and worms, see
Where There Is No
Doctor or another
general medical book.
Because girls and women often get less food—and less
nutritious food—than they need, they are more likely to
get sick. Here are some common illnesses caused by poor
nutrition.
Anemia
A person with anemia has weak blood. This happens when
red blood cells are lost or destroyed faster than the body can
replace them. Because women lose blood during their monthly
bleeding, anemia is often found in women who are between
puberty and menopause. About half of the world’s pregnant
women are anemic, because they need to make extra blood
for the growing baby.
Anemia is a serious illness. It makes a woman more likely to
get other kinds of diseases, and affects her ability to work and
learn. Anemic women are more likely to bleed heavily or even
die during childbirth.
Signs:
• pale inner eyelids, nails and inside of lip
• weakness and feeling very tired
• dizziness, especially when getting up
from a sitting or lying position
• fainting (loss of consciousness)
• shortness of breath
• fast heartbeat
Causes of anemia:
The most common cause of anemia is not eating
enough food rich in iron, since iron is needed to make
red blood cells. Other causes are:
• malaria, which destroys red blood cells
• any kind of blood loss, such as:
- heavy monthly bleeding (an intra-uterine
device, or IUD, can make bleeding heavier)
- childbir th
- bloody diarrhea (dysentery) from parasites
and worms
- bleeding stomach ulcers
- a wound that bleeds a lot
Where Women Have No Doctor 2012