World Grows Richer, But Poor Still Face Massive Nutritional
Deficiencies
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UN REPORT
Despite some progress in improving nutrition among the world's
poor, improvements have failed to keep pace with the overall
climate of global economic growth, according to a new United Na-
tions report.
"Nutrition for Improved Development Outcomes" shows that while
global gross domestic product has doubled during the past 20
years, the number of underweight pre-school children has been
cut by only 20 per cent:
http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2004/bertiniBRF.doc.htm
Launching the report in New York today, Catherine Bertini, the
UN Under-Secretary-General for Management and former head of the
UN World Food Programme (WFP), said this trend constitutes "the
scandal of malnutrition in the world today."
The report shows that progress has been uneven, with sub-Saharan
Africa lagging behind other developing areas. Lawrence Haddad of
the International Food Policy Research Institute, also present
at the briefing, said that micronutrient status, maternal nutri-
tion status, shorter children, thinner children, low birth
weight and all the other indicators of malnutrition showed Af-
rica was heading in the wrong direction.
He noted that the broader context must be taken into account
when examining the relationship between economic growth and re-
ductions in childhood malnutrition, which depends not only on
having enough food to eat but also on how that food is allo-
cated. Other related concerns include the availability of health
services and the prevalence of disease. "It's a very complex set
of factors that are important for reducing malnutrition," he
said.
According to the report, 10 million children below 5 years of
age are dying every year - half of them from preventable causes
related to proper nutrition.
For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news