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It is important to have protein in our diets, and it is extremely important for patients recovering from spinal cord injury to have the protein that they need to help with muscle and tissue growth and recovery and to provide energy throughout the recovery process. The American Dietetic Association (ADA), the largest organization of food and nutrition experts in the world, has published new guidelines that support the use of proper nutrition in the care of many illnesses and injuries, including spinal cord injury.

Kwashiokor is a form of protein-energy malnutrition that we generally associate with children from war-torn countries of Africa. Financial and social affluence generally protects our population, especially the children, from protein deprivation. The low incidence of Kwashiokor delays its diagnosis in the special groups that are at risk of developing it. Chase HP, in a review of kwashiorkor, suggests that children on severe protein restriction due to nutritional ignorance, perceived milk intolerance, or food faddism can develop Kwashiokar. Chronic malabsorptive conditions such as cystic fibrosis are also a high-risk group. Hospitalized patients with decreased nutritional intake or severe nutritional loss are also prone to protein-energy malnutrition.

Despite the fact that accurate nutrition information can be accessed by almost anyone with an Internet connection or a library card, the 21st century has picked up where the last one left off: one dominated by poor eating habits.

The proliferation of fast food restaurants, convenience stores, and vending machines in virtually every corner of residential America has created a serious nutritional problem. “Snacking” – a harmless-sounding verb that deceptively implies something unobjectionable – has reached addictive proportions[i].

Frank Parsons had been dieting for what seemed to be his entire adult life. All this time he had been telling himself, “I’ve got to get rid of this fat,” and in his mind he had been imagining the fat melting away as he ate lettuce leaves and rice cakes. That is, he thought that way until his specialist, Dr. Jacob, gave him a dose of reality: Frank is stuck with the same fat cells he was born with,(1) and all the comfort eating he did in his teens actually caused his fat cells to expand so much that they split to produce more new fat cells. Even worse, fat cells cannot be removed by any diet currently available. For some lucky people, however, appropriate dieting will cause the fat cells to shrink.

The average lifespan has continued to increase as improvements in health care and medications have continued to be implemented. In 1997, the average life expectancy was 73 for males and 80 for females. (Source: Sigelman 1999) Currently, 13% of the population is 65 and older, and the 85 and older population is the fastest growing segment of all. It is estimated that 20% of the population will belong to this group by the year 2030, with the estimated number being around 73 million. (Source: Science Daily: March 8, 2010)