Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Better nutrition can cut stunting, says UNICEF-Aarti Dhar

Better nutrition can cut stunting, says UNICEF-Aarti Dhar

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Apr 16, 2013   modified Modified on Apr 16, 2013
-The Hindu

  

Focus attention on pregnancy and first two years of child's life

Stunting can be contained by focussing attention on pregnancy and the first two years of a child's life, a new UNICEF report has said.

Stunting is not only about a child being too short for his or her age. It can also mean suffering from stunted development of the brain and cognitive capacity.

The report offers evidence that real progress is being made in the fight against stunted growth - the hidden face of poverty for 165 million children under five. It shows that accelerated progress is both possible and necessary.

Maharashtra's progress

According to the report, "Improving Child Nutrition: The achievable imperative for global progress" released on Monday, one in four of all under-5 children globally is stunted because of chronic under-nutrition in crucial periods of growth. An estimated 80 per cent of the world's stunted children live in just 14 countries.

But in parts of India - home to 61 million stunted children - progress is still being made. In Maharashtra, the wealthiest and second most populous State, 39 per cent of children under two were stunted in 2005-2006. That, however, dropped to 23 per cent by 2012, according to a Statewide nutritional survey, largely as a result of supporting frontline workers in improving child nutrition.

The UNICEF report highlights successes in scaling up nutrition and improving policies, programmes and behaviour change in 11 countries: Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Nepal, Peru, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Tanzania and Vietnam.

The damage done to a child's body and brain by stunting is irreversible. It drags down performance at school and future earnings. It is an injustice often passed from generation to generation that cuts away at national development. Stunted children are also at a higher risk of dying from infectious diseases than other children.

"Stunting can kill opportunities in life for a child and kill opportunities for development of a nation," said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. "Our evidence of the progress that is being achieved shows that now is the time to accelerate it."

Peru, Ethiopia examples

In Peru, stunting fell by a third between 2006 and 2011 following a Child Malnutrition Initiative that lobbied political candidates to sign a ‘5 by 5 by 5' commitment to reduce stunting in children under 5 by 5 per cent in five years and to lessen inequities between urban and rural areas. Peru drew on its experience of successful smaller projects and integrated nutrition with other programmes. It also focussed on the most disadvantaged children and women and decentralised government structures.

Ethiopia cut stunting from 57 to 44 per cent and under-5 mortality from 139 to 77 deaths per 1,000 livebirths between 2000 and 2011. Key steps included a national nutrition programme, providing a safety net in the poorest areas and boosting nutrition assistance through communities.

Stunting and other forms of undernutrition are reduced through a series of simple and proven steps such as improving women's nutrition, early and exclusive breastfeeding, providing additional vitamins and minerals as well as appropriate food - especially during pregnancy and the first two years of a child's life.

The report says the existing solutions and the work of new partnerships, including the ‘Scaling Up Nutrition' movement, create an unprecedented opportunity to address child undernutrition through countries accelerating progress with coordinated projects with donor support and measurable target.


The Hindu, 16 April, 2013, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/better-nutrition-can-cut-stunting-says-unicef/article4621791.ece


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close