On October 15, 2019, The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released a report titled “The State of the World’s Children (SOWC) 2019: Children, food and nutrition- Growing well in a changing world”. It was for the first time in 20 years, it evaluated the issue of children, food and nutrition.
Following are the figures taken from the report:
i. At least 1 in 3 children under 5 or over 200 million are either undernourished or overweight.
ii. Almost 2 in 3 children between 6 months and 2 years of age are not fed food.
iii. 49 million children are stunted, or too short for their age.
iv. 50 million children are wasted, or too thin for their height.
v. 340 million children – or 1 in 2 – suffer from deficiencies in essential vitamins and nutrients such as vitamin A and iron.
vi. 40 million children are overweight or obese.
vii. Nearly 45% of children between 6 months and 2 years of age are not fed any fruits or vegetables. Nearly 60% do not eat any eggs, dairy, fish or meat.
viii. From 2000 to 2016, the proportion of overweight children between 5 and 19 years of age doubled from 1 in 10 to 1 in 5. Ten times more girls and 12 times more boys in this age group suffer from obesity at present than in 1975.
ix. Only 1 in 5 children aged 6 months to 2 years from the poorest households eat a sufficiently diverse diet for healthy growth.
About UNICEF:
♦ It was originally known as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund
♦ Headquarters: New York, US
♦ Founded: 11 December 1946
♦ Executive Director: Henrietta Holsman Fore