23/03/2004
Scourge of malnutrition goes on despite global rise in wealth: UN
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 Nations report.
According to the report, 10 million children below five years of age are dying every year - half of them from preventable causes related to proper nutrition.
The report, 'Nutrition for Improved Development Outcomes', found 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%.
Launching the report in New York, Catherine Bertini, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Management and former head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), said this trend constituted "the scandal of malnutrition in the world today".
The report also showed that global progress has been uneven, with sub-Saharan Africa lagging behind other developing areas.
Lawrence Haddad, of the International Food Policy Research Institute, said that micronutrient status, maternal nutrition status, shorter children, thinner children, low birth weight and all the other indicators of malnutrition showed Africa was "heading in the wrong direction".
Other related concerns include the availability of health services and the prevalence of disease.
(gmcg)
According to the report, 10 million children below five years of age are dying every year - half of them from preventable causes related to proper nutrition.
The report, 'Nutrition for Improved Development Outcomes', found 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%.
Launching the report in New York, Catherine Bertini, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Management and former head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), said this trend constituted "the scandal of malnutrition in the world today".
The report also showed that global progress has been uneven, with sub-Saharan Africa lagging behind other developing areas.
Lawrence Haddad, of the International Food Policy Research Institute, said that micronutrient status, maternal nutrition status, shorter children, thinner children, low birth weight and all the other indicators of malnutrition showed Africa was "heading in the wrong direction".
Other related concerns include the availability of health services and the prevalence of disease.
(gmcg)
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