Trods mange bistandskroner er andelen af underernærede børn i Nepal ikke faldet siden 1996, og underernæring har en finger med i spillet i seks ud af ti børnedødsfald i landet. Det viser en ny analyse fra FNs nyhedsbureau IRINnews.
KATHMANDU, 14 December 2012 (IRIN) – The number of children in Nepal with acute malnutrition hovers near emergency levels, something that has not changed even after 15 years of efforts and millions of dollars invested, say local and international nutrition experts.
“The prevalence was the same in 1996. If we look at the number of children affected, the situation has even deteriorated due to the population increase,” said Nicolas Oberlin, deputy country director of UN’s World Food Programme (WFP).
Levels of wasting – acute malnutrition, or low weight-to-height ratio – hardly changed from 2006 to 2011, according to the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2011 (DHS).
Any global acute malnutrition rate- comprising both moderate and severe acute malnutrition-exceeding 10 percent is considered a nutrition emergency, according to medical experts. As of 2011, the Department of Health (DOH) estimated wasting affected nearly 11 percent of children under five years old, or 385,000 children. Some 2.6 percent of all under-fives – 91,000 – had severe acute malnutrition.
In total, malnutrition plays a role in 60 percent of child deaths, according to UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
According to IRINnews the main reasons for the high rate of malnutrition amongst children are:
Infections leading to poor health and increased vulnerability
Limited access to sanitation and safe water
Poor eating habits and agriculture investments
That nutrition historically has been a low priority
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