ABSTRACT
One of the most important generally accepted proxies of inadequate food security is in its outcome: the prevalence of undernourishment. Thus, the concept of food security is predicated on and underpinned by the notion of nutrition, whether good or bad. Indeed, diet and nutrition as components of maintenance and good health is so important throughout an individual’s lifetime that education and understanding of nutritional issues as well as public health activities are taking increasingly prominent positions in food security policies (WFP 2011). Therefore, before we are able to discuss food security and malnutrition in any kind of detail, we must first understand the basics of nutrition itself. Questions such as what our nutritional needs are and what is considered sufficient to maintain good health need to be considered. For this reason, a perfunctory glance at some of the more fundamental nutritional issues at this point helps ease the narrative along. The following section looks at current nutritional knowledge and understanding particularly in respect to good or healthy nutrition before any further exploration of the various aspects of hunger and malnutrition is undertaken.
