WORLD NUTRITION ALERT

Over 40% of children in the developing world are considered to be moderately or severely malnourished, and in some African and Asian countries that number jumps above 60%.

For more information download the UNICEF Global Database on Undernutrition 2006. This table estimates percentage of children under 5 years of age suffering from underweight, stunting, and wasting by country or territory.

UNICEF estimates that every year acute malnutrition contributes to the deaths of from one million to six million children under the age of five. One out of every four children under five – or approximately 146 million children in the developing world – is underweight for his or her age, and at increased risk of an early death.

Moreover, inadequate nutrition impairs physical and cognitive development. Impaired development limits a child’s future educational and employment opportunities and further entrenches the poverty cycle.

Recent trends in commodity markets and the worldwide financial situation are accelerating the numbers of people at risk for vitamin and mineral deficiencies. In 2007, the Food and Agriculture Organization index of food prices rose by 24%, and rose again by 51% between October 2007 and October 2008.¹ In November of 2008, the World Bank estimated that high food and fuel prices had increased the number of extremely poor by at least 100 million people, and set back seven years of progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goal target for the reduction of poverty.² The World Bank also estimated that in 2008 alone, increased food prices may have been responsible for an additional 44 million children experiencing permanent physical and cognitive setbacks due to malnutrition.³

Unfortunately, those most affected by malnutrition reside in remote and hard-to-reach areas of the world. War, natural disasters, political conflict, and inadequate infrastructure not only make it difficult for individuals to access good nutrition, but also create obstacles to agencies seeking to provide aid.

¹ United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition, The Impact of High Food Prices on Maternal and Child Nutrition, Geneva, United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition, 14 October 2008 (www.unscn.org/Publications/html/CFS_SCNB.pdf, accessed 8 March 2009).
² World Bank, The Financial Crisis: Implications for Developing Countries, Washington, World Bank, 13 November 2008 (http://www.worldbank.org, accessed 8 March 2009).
³ Ibid.