Malnutrition identified as root cause of 3.1 million deaths among children by The Lancet, IF, Save the Children & agencies 1:10pm 27th May, 2013   6 June 2013    Malnutrition is the underlying cause of death for at least 3.1 million children, accounting for 45% of all deaths among children under the age of five and stunting growth among a further 165 million, according to a set of reports released ahead of a nutrition summit in London.    The shocking figures, published in the Lancet, emerged as world leaders prepare to meet on Saturday to pledge extra money for nutrition, ahead of the G8 summit of industrialised countries on 17 June.    "The Lancet series today shocked us into a new truth: undernutrition is an even deadlier threat to child survival than we ever thought," said Molly Kinder, director of agriculture and nutrition policy at ONE, the anti-poverty group. "These alarming facts are now irrefutable. Undernutrition is responsible for 600,000 more child deaths each year than was previously realised."    The latest Lancet reports follow the journal''s series in 2008, which helped put nutrition on the development agenda.    "Countries will not be able to break out of poverty or sustain economic advances when so much of their population is unable to achieve the nutritional security that is needed for a healthy and productive life," said Professor Robert Black, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who led the Lancet research.    "Our findings strengthen the evidence that good nutrition is a fundamental driver of a wide range of development goals, and while the impetus for improving nutrition today is stronger than ever, the costs of inaction are enormous."    Aid for basic nutrition in 2011, was only 0.4% of total official development assistance. Similarly, nutrition has been a low government priority in Africa.    Aid campaigners, who see the summit as the biggest opportunity in a decade to secure greater financial and political commitments on nutrition. Enough Food For Everyone IF, a coalition of more than 200 NGOs and faith groups, is calling for $1bn a year by 2015.    Even if the summit comes up with more money, it will fall far short of the $9.6bn a year the Lancet says is needed to reduce the number of deaths from malnutrition among under-fives by 1 million.    The money would be targeted at 34 countries with high malnutrition rates, supporting interventions identified in the 2008 Lancet series as cost-effective.    These include exclusive breastfeeding and appropriate, healthy foods for infants; providing mothers and children with sufficient vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A and zinc supplements, iodised salt, and other micronutrient powders and fortified foods; and the prevention and treatment of cases of acute, severe malnutrition.    Maternal nutrition is also crucial, said the Lancet, not just for the mother''s own survival, but for her child''s chances of survival and development.    Undernourished women are more likely to die in pregnancy, to give birth prematurely, and to have babies who are too small for their gestational age.    Iron and calcium deficiency are identified as key contributors to maternal death, putting mothers at increased risk of anaemia and pre-eclampsia; maternal iron deficiency is also found to be associated with low birth weight.    "They [governments] need to do something as they have so many stunted children," said Kinder. "They need to come up with money."    Brazil has been one of the success stories in reducing malnutrition. Daniel Silva Balaban, a director at the UN World Food Programme who was involved in Brazil''s nutrition policy, emphasised that hunger and malnutrition was a political problem, not an economic one.    "When countries have the political will to tackle malnutrition, it is possible to deal with it," he said.    Balaban pointed out that the success of a school feeding programme key to Brazil''s success in tackling malnutrition involved not just the ministry of education but also the co-operation of the education, health, social development and finance ministries.    "You also need a line in the budget to show that you believe in the programme and that you have a plan," he said. "You put what money you can in the budget and donors can support you in finding the money."    Balaban said it was important to create a legal framework so that the commitment to tackle malnutrition outlasts any government changes. He also stressed the need to enlist the public, including smallholder farmers who can provide produce directly to school or municipalities.    The Lancet''s 2008 series stimulated political commitment to a reduction in malnutrition and led to the creation of the Scaling up Nutrition (Sun) movement, which emphasises the importance of a child''s first 1,000 days.    "Undernutrition has a complex set of political, social and economic causes, none of which are amenable to easy solutions that fit within the timeframe of a single political cycle," said Dr Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of the Lancet.    "For this reason, the outlook today for nutrition is not wholly good. However, the forthcoming nutrition for growth event in London and the G8 leaders summit present an immediate opportunity to foster political support for the interventions that can be quickly scaled up or linked to nutrition programmes."    June 6, 2013    Maternal and Child Nutrition. (The Lancet)    Maternal and child undernutrition was the subject of a Series of papers in The Lancet in 2008. Five years after the initial series, we re-evaluate the problems of maternal and child undernutrition. Many of these countries are said to have the double burden of malnutrition: continued stunting of growth and deficiencies of essential nutrients along with the emerging issue of obesity. We also assess national progress in nutrition programmes and international efforts toward previous recommendations.    http://www.thelancet.com/series/maternal-and-child-nutrition    Tackling child malnutrition to unlock potential and boost prosperity. (Save the Children)    In the past two decades, the world has achieved significant progress for children. Between 1990 and 2011, the numbers of children dying under the age of five fell faster than ever before – from 12 million to 6.9 million. Since 1999 the number of children in primary school has gone up by over 40 million.    However, malnutrition threatens to undermine these impressive advances. In spite of the reduction in children dying, the global crisis of child mortality remains unsolved – 19,000 children continue to die each day from preventable causes.    Meanwhile, a global crisis in education means 130 million children are in school but failing to learn even the basics. They are left without the core skills and abilities they need to fulfil their potential and to lead fulfilling, productive lives.    Child malnutrition is a key factor underlying both these crises. Malnutrition is an underlying cause of 2.3 million children’s deaths a year, and for millions more children contributes to failures in cognitive and educational development. As a result, the life chances of millions of children around the world are devastated. The potential cost to the global economy runs to billions of dollars.    In the past two decades, progress in tackling malnutrition has been pitifully slow while advances in tackling many other issues highlighted by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been far faster. Save the Children’s Child Development Index has shown overall progress on the education component was 32% and on the health component 23% (from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s), compared with an improvement in the nutrition component of only 13%.    But in June 2013 global leaders have a historic opportunity to make a major breakthrough in the fight against hunger. By taking decisive action to tackle the malnutrition crises head on, they can end the deaths of millions of children a year as a result of malnutrition and prevent the many millions more lives being devastated by its effects.    In this report we demonstrate how investment in nutrition is not only the right thing to do, it is a down-payment on future prosperity. The evidence we present shows that preventing malnutrition of children and women in the crucial 1,000-day window – from the start of a woman’s pregnancy until her child’s second birthday – could greatly increase children’s ability to learn and to earn.    New findings on the impact of malnutrition on children’s learning    The long-term consequences of child malnutrition for health and resilience to disease are well established. But this report presents new evidence, commissioned by Save the Children, which for the first time identifies the impact of malnutrition on educational outcomes across a range of countries.    The Young Lives study follows 3,000 children in four countries throughout their childhood. At key points in their lives, the children are interviewed and tested to determine their educational abilities, confidence, hopes and aspirations.    New analysis of the survey shows that children who are malnourished at the start of life are severely disadvantaged in their ability to learn. Compared with non-stunted children, stunted children: • score 7% lower on maths tests • are 19% less likely to be able to read a simple sentence aged 8, and 12% less likely to be able to write a simple sentence • are 13% less likely to be in the appropriate grade for their age at school.    These impacts remain after controlling children’s backgrounds, including where they grew up and went to school.    Chief executive Justin Forsyth said: “These findings confirm our very worst fears – that poor nutrition is capable of seriously damaging a child’s life chances before he or she even sets foot in a classroom.    “Having a quarter of the world’s children at risk of under-performing at school will have grave consequences for the fight to end global poverty.    “World leaders must take the opportunity to change this in London on 8 June and commit to tackle the scourge of malnutrition for good. We want to see funding for countries suffering the highest burden so that millions of children’s lives can be transformed.”    Despite being one of the most cost-effective forms of development assistance, nutrition programmes currently receive just 0.3% of global development spending. Any investment now, the report says, would be a down payment on future prosperity.    http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/news-and-comment/news/2013-05/quarter-worlds-children-risk-under-performing-school    http://reliefweb.int/report/world/fragile-not-helpless-scaling-nutrition-fragile-and-conflict-affected-states    http://enoughfoodif.org/latest
	Next (more recent) news item
	Next (older) news item