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 .
Despite a nearly 40 per cent drop from 1990 to 2015 of stunting in poor countries, 149 million children four or younger are today still too short for their age, a clinical condition that impairs both brain and body development. Over the last three decades, however, another form of child malnutrition has surged across the developing world: excess weight.
'HIDDEN HUNGER' Among children under five, diet during first 1,000 days after conception is the foundation for physical health and mental development. "It's 'hidden' because you don't notice the impact until it is too late," Mr Brian Keeley, editor-in-chief of report, told AFP."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.
TAX SUGARY DRINKS A single degree Celsius of warming since the late-19th century has amplified droughts responsible for more than 80 per cent of damage and losses in agriculture.Research by scientists at Harvard University, meanwhile, have shown that the increased concentration of CO2 in the air is sapping staple food crops of those essential nutrients and vitamins, including zinc, iron and vitamin B.
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