BBC News released an article this week, “Poor Nutrition ‘Stunting Growth,’” bringing attention to the negative effects of poor nutrition on the growth and development of children in the developing world. 

Despite varying progress that has been made since the creation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a third of the deaths of children under five in the developing world are linked to poor diet. Only 63 out of 117 countries are on track to meet the MDG of halving the rates of underweight children between 1990 and 2015. While South America is making significant improvements, Asia is struggling and Africa is doing particularly poor.

Two common indicators used to identify the extent of undernutrition are stunting and weight. Unicef reports that an estimated 139 million children are underweight. However, this number does not account for those children who are of normal weight, or even overweight, as a result of poor food quality and malnutrition. Stunting appears to be the more accurate indicator of undernutrition, as most children who suffer from poor nutrition also suffer from growth problems. While rates in stunting have fallen since 1990, Unicef reports that 195 million children (one in three) have stunted growth.

Unicef has pinpointed the first 1,000 days of life as the key period to tackle the problem. Breastfeeding is as essential step in this period. The provision of food supplements is also identified by Unicef as an “important part of the solution.” The article notes that programs which focus on iodized salt, which aids in brain development, and vitamin A supplementation, which help bone growth and the bodies’ ability to fight infection, “could reduce deaths by one fifth.” 

Unicef chief Ann Veneman explains “undernutrition steals a child’s strength and makes illnesses that the body might otherwise fight off more dangerous. Unless attention is paid to addressing the causes of child and maternal undernutrition today, the costs will be higher tomorrow.”

Read the article>>

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