Malnutrition 'killing millions of kids'
Malnutrition
kills nearly six million children a year, mainly in developing
countries, despite the availability of relatively cheap solutions that
could improve global nutrition, a report said.
While low and middle-income countries bear the brunt (impact) of the
problem, malnutrition affects some rich countries as well, said the
report by the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington policy research
group.
The bureau's '2007 World Population Data Sheet' and two companion
reports provide up-to-date demographic
(to do with human populations), health and environmental data for all
the countries and major regions of the world.
The report said poor nutrition during the mother's pregnancy and the
baby's early years cause severe and irreversible (permanent) mental and
physical damage.
Bill Butz, president of the Population Reference Bureau, said the
public often does not consider the deadly toll of malnutrition among
children "because it does not kill young children directly, as does
pneumonia or diarrhoea.
"Many of these deaths could be averted (prevented) through nutrition
measures that are known to be effective, often at low cost," Butz said.
"Malnutrition often increases susceptibility (vulnerability) to
disease, while ill health exacerbates (makes worse) poor nutrition," the
report said. "For countries ravaged (damaged) by the HIV/AIDS epidemic,
malnutrition appears to increase vulnerability to infection and render
retro viral treatments less effective."
Despite some important progress, the report said, about 30 per cent
of children in low- and middle-income countries are underweight. The
largest problems are in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. For example,
almost half the children are underweight in some Indian states.
To improve nutrition in the short term, the report said, countries
should begin monitoring and promoting growth, changing nutritional
behaviour, improving communication with people at risk of malnutrition
and introducing iodised salt.
Later they could establish community-based nutrition programmes that
target young children, adolescent (teenaged) girls and pregnant women.
Sydney Morning Herald
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