Malnutrition is largely a silent and invisible
emergency, exacting a terrible toll on children and their families. The
result of multiple causes, including a lack of food, common and
preventable infections, inadequate care and unsafe water, it plays a
role in more than half of the nearly 12 million deaths each year of
children under five in developing countries, a proportion unmatched
since the Black Death ravaged Europe in the 14th century. Malnutrition
blunts intellects and saps the productivity and potential of entire
societies. Poverty, one of the causes of malnutrition, is also a
consequence, a tragic bequest by malnourished parents to the next
generation.
The State of the World's Children 1998 report details
the scale of the loss and the steps being taken to stem it. Sentinels of
progress are lighting the way: Nearly 60 per cent of the world's salt is
now iodized, and millions of children every year are spared mental
retardation as a result. Vitamin A supplementation is helping bolster
disease resistance in children and may soon become an important measure
in helping reduce maternal deaths around the world. Communities are
working together to identify their problems, decide on their options and
take action, with women emerging to play leadership roles that spark
numerous other changes in people's lives.
Children have the right,
recognized in international law, to good nutrition. The world has the
obligation to protect that right, building on both the great experience
gained and the scientific knowledge achieved. Action is both possible
and imperative. |
