Food warning for Indian children
India has the worst indicators of child malnutrition in South Asia:Unicef
More than 1.5m children in India are at risk of becoming malnourished because of rising global food prices, the UN children's charity, Unicef, says.
It warns that food inflation could be devastating for vulnerable women and children right across South Asia.
It warns that food inflation could be devastating for vulnerable women and children right across South Asia.
The region already has the largest number of malnourished children in the world and levels could get even worse.
Even before the current crisis almost half of all Indian children showed signs of stunted growth, Unicef says.
According to Unicef's latest State of the World's Children's report, India has the worst indicators of child malnutrition in South Asia: 48% of under fives in India are stunted, compared to 43% in Bangladesh and 37% in Pakistan.
Meanwhile 30% of babies in India are born underweight, compared to 22% in Bangladesh and 19% in Pakistan. Unicef calculates that 40% of all underweight babies in the world are Indian.
Put all that in hard numbers and the figures are stark. Fifty million Indian under fives are affected by malnutrition. Rising food prices, Unicef says mean 1.5 to 1.8 million more children in India alone could end up malnourished.
Three hundred million Indians live on less than $1 a day, according to the UN.
Poor families who cannot afford rising food prices are having to save money where they can, and that also means spending less on healthcare and education.
Poor families who cannot afford rising food prices are having to save money where they can, and that also means spending less on healthcare and education.
My gut says at some point people will say enough is enough. If they can't feed themselves and their children it could be too much.
No comments:
Post a Comment