PARIS: A third of the world's nearly 700 million children under five years old are undernourished or overweight and face lifelong health problems as a consequence, according to a grim UN assessment of childhood nutrition released Tuesday .
Another 50 million are afflicted by wasting - a chronic and debilitating thinness also born of poverty.At the same time, half of youngsters across the globe under five are not getting essential vitamins and minerals, a long-standing problem UNICEF has dubbed"hidden hunger". And yet, only two-in-five infants under six months are exclusively breastfed, as recommended. Sales of milk-based formula have risen worldwide by 40 per cent, and in upper middle-income countries such as Brazil, China and Turkey by nearly three-quarters.
"You don't notice that the child is running a little slower than everyone else, struggling a bit in school."The problem was virtually non-existent in poor countries 30 years ago, but today at least 10 per cent of under five-year-olds are overweight or obese in three-quarters of low-income nations.
I wonder why 🤨
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Source: The Straits Times - 🏆 8. / 63 Read more »