The medical journal The Lancet published a reports that malnutrition is responsible for nearly half (45 percent) of all deaths in children under five.
Around 3 million deaths of children under five occur from malnutrition, which encompasses under nutrition and overweight. The focus of agricultural programmes should shift toward enhanced nutrition rather than just increasing crop yields said Professor Robert Black from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Black also emphasized the importance of actions at the community level to address issues on malnutrition. The collaboration among civil society, humanitarian agencies and the commercial sector would make a difference at the local level.
Martin Bloem from World Food Program (WFP) emphasized the role of Aganwadis, government sponsored child-care centres in India agree with the statement.
The reports also suggest that lack of resources as well as unhygienic conditions have raised new challenges when it comes to addressing issues of malnutrition in a country like India. Bloem said that inspection and strict monitoring is paramount when local communities are involved.
The findings come ahead of the Group of Eight (G8) summit, which will be preceded by the UK and Brazilian governments co-hosting a high level even on Nutrition for Growth.
The findings suggest that addressing the problem means addressing the underlying causes of malnutrition, such as ‘poverty, food insecurity, poor education and gender inequity’. The study also stated that close to 15 percent of all deaths in children under the age of five could be prevented by providing vitamin A and zinc supplements to children up to the age of five as well as taking care of dietary needs of pregnant women, among many other measures.
While reducing hunger and poverty have been leading priorities for the U.N, ‘if you look at he indicators such as underweight, the progress is insufficient’. According to the study the problem are ‘resulting in a double burden of maternal and chil disease and illness’ in countries where undernutrition is already a huge problem.
A right balance of adequate nutritional diet and an affordable food industry spearheaded by public and private sectors as well as community-level initiatives could provide solutions to tackle this “killer”, said experts.
Source :- IPSNews
Leave a Reply