World Vision pledges USD 1.2 billion to tackle malnutrition
Saturday, 8 June – World Vision has announced a USD 1.2 billion package of measures to combat childhood undernutrition.
Dr Sri Chander from World Vision Asia Pacific, said: “Without the right nutrition in the first 1,000 days of life, children’s futures are permanently affected. Their brains and muscles fail to develop, leaving them stunted for life. Yet very simple interventions like adding iodine to the water supply or providing vitamin A supplements can secure a decent future for children.”
Across the Asia and Pacific region, strong economic growth has not resulted in better nutrition outcomes for many children. It is believed that the region is home to 60 percent of the world’s stunted children. In India, close to half of the nation’s children are underweight or stunted. Micronutrient deficiencies, high rates of anaemia, poor infant feeding practices and decreased rates of exclusive breastfeeding all contribute to the alarming state of child health in the region. A number of countries in Asia also face a double burden of disease with a high prevalence of young child undernutrition and an increase in childhood obesity, which increases the populations’ risk of non-communicable diseases (diabetes, heart disease) in the future.
Across the world, significant progress has been made in reducing child mortality; since 1990 the number of children who die before their fifth birthday has nearly halved. But there has been less progress in improving children’s nutrition, and undernutrition is a major contributing factor in the deaths of more than three million children every year. Globally 165 million children, or one in four of all children under five, are stunted; chronically undernourished and at risk of long-lasting damage to their mental and physical development.
Improving child nutrition is a top priority for World Vision. Since 2008, it has been rolling out a package of nutrition and health interventions across its global programming, with USD 158 million spend on nutrition-focused programming and advocacy in 2012 alone.