15th February 2012.
“A life free from hunger.”
The charity Save the Children has produced a very
distressing report about the global scale of malnutrition
of children. This was based upon a survey carried out in
five countries – India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria
and Peru.
Here are a few of the 'vital statistics' from
the report.
“One in four of the world's children are
stunted. In developing countries this figure is as high as
one in three. That means their body and brain has failed to
develop properly because of malnutrition.”
“Malnutrition is an underlying cause of the death
of 2.6 million children each year – one–third
of the global total of children’s deaths.
“In the poorest countries, the poorest children
are two times more likely to be chronically malnourished
than their richest counterparts.
“48% of children in India are stunted.
“Seven countries are projected to see an increase
in numbers of stunted children by 2015. Nigeria is
projected to have 1.6 million additional stunted children
and by 2020 Tanzania is projected to have 450,000 extra
stunted children.”
Save the Children
See also
“500m children at risk of effects of
malnutrition.”
BBC