More than one in four children under the age of five are grappling with severe food poverty, according to a new report by UNICEF. Harriet Torlesse, a lead writer of the report released Wednesday, explained that “severe child food poverty describes children who are surviving on severely deprived diets, consuming two or fewer food groups.”
“It is shocking in this day and age where we know what needs to be done,” Torlesse told AFP.
UNICEF recommends that young children consume foods daily from at least five of eight main groups: breast milk; grains, roots, tubers, and plantains; pulses, nuts, and seeds; dairy; meat, poultry, and fish; eggs; vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables; and other fruits and vegetables.
However, the report reveals that 440 million children under five in approximately 100 low- and middle-income countries live in food poverty, lacking access to five food groups each day. Of these, 181 million children are experiencing severe food poverty, subsisting on at most two food groups.
“Children who consume just two food groups per day — for example, rice and some milk — are up to 50 percent more likely to experience severe forms of malnutrition,” UNICEF chief Catherine Russell said in a statement accompanying the report. This malnutrition can lead to emaciation, a dangerously thin state that can be fatal.
Even if these children survive, “they certainly don’t thrive,” Torlesse explained. “They do less well at school and, as adults, find it harder to earn a decent income, perpetuating the cycle of poverty from one generation to the next.”
“Essential systems in the body, such as the brain, heart, and immune system, rely on adequate vitamins, minerals, and protein for development and disease protection,” she added.
Severe child food poverty is concentrated in about 20 countries, with particularly dire situations in Somalia (63 percent), Guinea (54 percent), Guinea-Bissau (53 percent), and Afghanistan (49 percent).
While data for wealthy countries is unavailable, children in low-income households there also suffer from nutritional gaps.
The report highlights the current crisis in the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s military offensive in response to the October 7 attack by Hamas militants has caused a collapse in food and health systems. Data collected from December to April this year via text messages from families receiving financial aid in Gaza showed about nine in ten children living in severe food poverty. While not necessarily representative, the data indicates an “appalling escalation in nutrition deprivation since 2020, when only 13 percent of children in the Gaza Strip were living in severe child food poverty.”
Globally, UNICEF noted “slow progress over the past decade” in addressing child food poverty and called for enhanced social services and humanitarian aid for the most vulnerable children. The agency also advocated for a reevaluation of the global food processing system, criticizing the aggressive marketing of sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods to parents and families.
“These foods are cheap but very high in calories. They’re high-energy, high salt, high fat,” Torlesse explained. “They fill stomachs and remove hunger but fail to provide the essential vitamins and minerals children need.” She added that sugary and salty foods, which children quickly develop a taste for, contribute to the development of obesity, a habit that often carries into adulthood.
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