Dangerously Underfed

More than a quarter of children under age five in developing countries don’t get enough to eat and are at risk of dying prematurely, says a recent UNICEF report.

 

Progress for Children: A Report on Nutrition found that 27 per cent of young children in those countries – or about 146 million people – are underweight, many to a life-threatening degree. The UN children’s rights agency says poor nutrition contributes to about 5.6 million child deaths per year, more than half the total deaths. Bangladesh, India and Pakistan alone account for half of all the world’s underweight children.

 

The average number of underweight children has fallen by only five per cent in the last 15 years, the report says. In some countries – including Middle Eastern countries Iraq & Yemen and parts of Africa – the number is actually increasing due to conflict, food shortages and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, the report says.

 

The report warns that unless the world takes action, the UN’s World Millennium Development Goals; which MakePovertyHistory-Emirates is campaigning for; will not be reached.

 

The goals are aimed at significantly improving the lives of the world’s poor by 2015.

One of them is focused on cutting in half the rate of poor nutrition among children younger than age five.

 

Ann Veneman, the executive director of UNICEF, said the figures in the report don’t give the complete picture of the number of children facing malnutrition. "For every visibly undernourished child, there are several more battling a hidden nutritional crisis," she said.