Combating severe acute malnutrition
Discover UNICEF's actions to combat severe acute child malnutrition
- English
- Français
The Challenge
Acute malnutrition is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among children under 5 years of age. Children under five and pregnant and breastfeeding women are most vulnerable to malnutrition.
Most Central African families depend on subsistence farming, and the recurring conflicts in the CAR have led to population movements, with hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons. These families no longer have access to their fields and are dependent on humanitarian aid.
There are many causes for these high malnutrition rates, and they vary from prefecture to prefecture. In general, poor access to healthcare and drinking water, poor hygiene, inappropriate feeding practices, especially for infants, children and women, and food insecurity are the main structural causes. In some prefectures, the effects of these structural factors have been exacerbated by cyclical causes such as insecurity, soaring prices and the collapse of mining operations.
While severe acute malnutrition is the most visible aspect of a long-standing systemic problem in the Central African Republic, it masks a situation of chronic malnutrition among children which, once established, is irreversible and has consequences for the country's economic development. Approximately one in two children suffers from chronic malnutrition (stunted growth), with harmful consequences: delayed cognitive development and poor school performance, increased mortality, and low productive capacity in adulthood.
Our actions to end severe acute malnutrition
UNICEF provides all therapeutic foods, medicines and equipment needed to treat as many children as possible, both in emergency (humanitarian) areas and in development (non-humanitarian) areas.
UNICEF is also developing a strategy to strengthen the capacity of state health workers to manage severe acute malnutrition and prevent malnutrition.
As malnutrition is a multi-sectoral issue, certain approaches are now being developed:
- The ‘WASH in Nut’ approach will be strengthened to ensure good hygiene conditions in care facilities and in the community (rehabilitation of WASH infrastructure), and messages on good hygiene and sanitation practices will be disseminated to carers of children suffering from acute malnutrition who are being treated in health centres and in the community.
- Micronutrient supplementation, deworming of children, awareness-raising and promotion of good feeding practices for infants and young children (FYC) in affected areas.