Malnutrition in children requires millions of deaths

Almost half of all deaths of under-five children due to malnutrition

07/06/2013

Malnutrition demands millions of dead children each year. Especially in Asia and Africa, people are struggling with hunger and a lack of vitamins and nutrients. A new study also found that in 2011, 45 percent of all deaths among children under five were due to malnutrition and breastfeeding problems.

Malnutrition due to lack of vitamins and minerals and problems with breastfeeding
Malnutrition in 2011 caused almost half of all fatalities among under five year olds. This was the result of a new study published in the current issue of Fachmagazin „Lancet“ has been published. „We estimate that total malnutrition, including fetal growth restriction, stunted growth, weight loss, and vitamin A and zinc deficiency combined with suboptimal breastfeeding, is responsible for 3.1 million child deaths per year or 45 percent of all childhood deaths in 2011 is“, the researchers write. Asia and Africa continue to be the most affected regions.

The research team headed by Robert Black of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA, studied the physical effects of malnutrition. „While the prevalence of linear growth disorders in children younger than 5 years has fallen in the last two decades, it is still higher in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa than in any other region, with at least 165 million children a year worldwide 2011“, so the researchers. Moreover, 52 million children worldwide were too light for their size and 100 million too light for their age.

With simple measures, prevent 900,000 deaths each year due to malnutrition
As the scientists explain, malnutrition not only leads to physical developmental disorders, but also affects mental performance and leads to an increased susceptibility to infectious diseases.

Maternal nutrition during pregnancy plays a crucial role in the child's development. So the pregnant women would have to get enough protein, folic acid, calcium and other important nutrients. In addition, breastfeeding would have to be advertised and, if necessary, other mothers would step in and feed. To counteract the lack of vitamin A and zinc in the children are also urgently needed measures, write Black and his team. If such measures were taken by 90 percent of the population, 900,000 lives could be saved every year, as the researchers calculated. They call on the G8 countries to take further action to combat malnutrition in the context of the Northern Ireland Summit in mid-June. Malnutrition causes a huge loss of productivity and drastically limits the economic performance of the countries.

„The focus of agricultural programs should shift towards improved nutrition and non-increasing crop yields“, Black told the „International Press Service - IPS“. „These programs have not been implemented in an ideal way. "(Sb)

Image: Christian Pohl