Global action is required to combat malnutrition that kills millions of children every year and robs millions more of the opportunity to reach their full potential, says a latest report by the World Bank that has made a groundbreaking analysis on how the world should invest to accelerate progress for nutrition.
An additional investment of $2.2 billion a year over 10 years could save 2.2 million lives and reduce the number of stunted children by 50 million by 2025, according to the study by leading researchers and economists in the fields of nutrition and development, funded by the World Bank and unveiled on April 20.
Malnutrition is the prime cause of nearly half of deaths of children under five every year and million more women and children suffer from poor health caused by malnutrition.
“The unconscionably high rates of childhood stunting in middle- and low-income countries – 30 and 45 percent – are a damning indictment on us all,” said Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank. “Stunted growth has life-long consequences not only for the individual, but for countries as well, in an increasingly digitalized and services-oriented economy”.
Countries together will need to invest on average an additional $1.4 billion and donors will spend an additional $650 million per year, on top of the current investments, to prevent deaths by malnutrition and allow children go grow to their full physical and cognitive potential.
Undernutrition exposes children to greater risks of dying from common infections, and the interaction between undernutrition and infection can create a potentially lethal cycle of worsening illness and deteriorating nutritional, according to UNICEF.
Poor nutrition in the first 1,000 days of child’s life can also lead to irreversible stunted growth which impacts school and work performance. The additional funding, as purposed by the new study will help implement a package of proven, cost-effective actions to jump start the progress in nutrition.
In 2014, about one in four children under age 5 worldwide had stunted, or undersized, growth. As many as 159 million children had stunted growth in 2014, with over half such children lived in Asia and over one-third in Africa.
Similarly, 95 million children under age 5 were underweight in 2014 worldwide. As a result of global efforts against malnutrition, the number of underweight children decreased from 25.0 percent to 14.3 percent of the under 5 populations worldwide between 1990 and 2014.
Three regions — East Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of independent states – have met or exceeded the Millennium Development Goals, according to a UNICEF report. Middle East and North Africa were very close to the target as of 2014 while West and Central Africa experiences the smallest decrease in number of underweight children.
Malnutrition is also causing losses of billions of dollars every year on account of lost productivity and cost on health care. According to the 2015 Global Nutrition Report, every $1 of investment in nutrition yields $16 in benefits across health and productivity.
“An investment in nutrition can help make ever other investment in health and development pay off,” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who was a keynote speaker at the launch of the analytical report on nutrition in Washington, D.C.
Gates said the analysis showed that there were proven, cost-effective tools to combat malnutrition, such as food fortification and breastfeeding. “Investment in these interventions will help ensure millions more children globally have the opportunity to survive and thrive.”
