NAIROBI, 15 February 2012:  A global report by Save the Children has revealed that 15 million more children are suffering from chronic malnutrition in Africa now compared to 1990. Today, two in five African children or 60 million children are malnourished. This figure is expected to rise by 8.5 million this decade if current trends continue.

In Kenya, the number of children suffering from malnutrition has increased since 2003. Today, more than a third of the total children (35.5%) suffer from chronic malnutrition. The situation worsened last year, occasioned by the drought that affected the arid and semi arid regions of northern Kenya. Progress to tackle malnutrition has been slower in Kenya and Africa generally than anywhere else in the world. Soaring food prices and economic downturn in the last year has made it even harder for families to buy enough of the right food for their children.

According to the report, half of the world’s malnourished children live in five countries – Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, India and Bangladesh – where half of all families have been forced to cut back on food.

A survey conducted by Save The Children, presents a snap-shot of the hardship that families are facing in countries where, even before food price spikes, many of the poorest children were already surviving on a diet dominated by a basic staple meal such as white rice, maize or cassava, which have very low nutritional value.  

In the new report 'A Life Free from Hunger: Tackling Child Malnutrition', Save the Children shows that rising food prices and malnutrition are putting additional pressure on countries with already high burdens of child mortality. Unless tackled now, the report continues, over the next 15 years, a further half a billion children’s lives around the world will be left blighted by malnutrition.  

Save the Children’s survey and the report are part of the global “Every One campaign”, which calls for urgent action to stop needless deaths of children under five years from preventable causes and easily treatable illnesses. Every One campaign is advocating for stronger political will, policy change and the increased resources to save children’s lives and increase the country’s chances of achieving the MDGs relating by 2015.

Mr Prasant Naik, Kenya Country Director, Save the Children UK says, “The government of Kenya has made some achievements in reducing hunger and malnutrition. However, the country still lacks a strong political will to tackle child malnutrition, or nutrition champions to lobby for the right policies and practice. There is very weak coordination between the authorities and aid agencies and funding levels for hunger and nutrition have remained low with a greater focus on other sectors.”

Prasant applauds the response to last year’s drought but is concerned that chronic malnutrition is not receiving the response it demands. “Chronic malnutrition is suffered by millions of Kenyan children and who remain relatively neglected. This is a crisis that we cannot ignore any more as mortality rates due to malnutrition continue to rise. Stunting impedes the mental and physical development of a child. The child can never reach their full potential, and that undermines the human capital to drive the economy.”

Malnutrition is attributed to a third of all child deaths worldwide, or 2.6 million per year. Yet it has not received the same high profile investment as other causes of child mortality like HIV, AIDS or malaria. Child mortality rates from malaria have been cut by a third since 2000, but child malnutrition rates in Africa have decreased by less than 0.3%. 

The costs - both in human and economic terms - are huge. A chronically malnourished child can have an IQ of up to 15 points less than a child properly nourished. In 2010, it is estimated that Kenya lost 95 billion shillings due to stunting, and the cost of child malnutrition to the global economy  was nearly KShs. 10 trillion. 

Fundamentally, a substantial increase in investment will enable expediting practical and basic solutions, which have a high impact on tackling malnutrition. The 1,000 days between pregnancy and age two are the window of opportunity and intervention that are most important to focus on this period.

Iron and foliate supplementation during pregnancy, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, micronutrient supplementation, complementary feeding, good hygiene practices, de-worming and zinc supplementation have proved effective. Additionally, better investment in cash transfers targeted at the poorest families can reduce families’ vulnerability to fluctuating food prices. 

Save the Children is urging for increased budgetary allocation to the health sector and specifically to nutrition related interventions and a multi-sectoral engagement to fund and implement the National Nutrition Action Plan, the country’s blueprint on nutrition intervention.

Further, nutrition indicators should be added as a measure for economic growth along with infrastructure, favourable investment environment and sound fiscal policies.

“Malnutrition is increasingly recognised as one of the biggest threats to sustainable economic and social development, but not receiving the commensurate funding and more children continue to die every hour. We need to appreciate the gravity of the situation and take action to channel the manpower, the intellect and resources, coupled with the much needed political will to alleviate malnutrition,” said Ms Wanja Gitonga, Every One Campaign Manager, Save the Children.

“We know what works, but we need an emphatic political will to prioritise malnutrition, keep it at the top, scale up intervention at the national and sub-national levels.”

To engage the online global community, Save the Children’s is holding the biggest ever charity tweetchat, spanning 3 continents, over 12 different time zones, in at least three languages, lasting 12 hours and including inputs by high profile chefs, academics and politicians from around the world.

ENDS

To join, go to www.tweetchat.com and enter the hash tag - #hiddencrisis

For more information or interviews, contact:

Wanja Gitonga on 0786351241, W.Gitonga@scuk.or.ke or Olivia Mwongera on 0722535543, O.Mwongera@scuk.or.ke.

Notes to editors:

Save the Children’s survey results showed that: in India, one of the world’s biggest boom economies and where half of all children are stunted, more than a quarter of parents surveyed said their children went without food sometimes or often. In Nigeria, nearly a third of parents had pulled their children out of school so they could work to help pay for food. In Bangladesh, 87% of those surveyed said the price of food had been their most pressing concern in 2010. 

Globescan, International Polling Agency, carried out the survey in December 2011 and January 2012 in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Peru and Nigeria. These countries are the home of half of the world’s 170million stunted children. Proportion of stunted children in countries surveyed: Pakistan 42% (10.1M) of children stunted, Bangladesh 43% (7M), India 48% (60.5M), Nigeria 43% (10.9M), Peru 24% (712,560).

A randomly-selected sample of over 1,000 adults over 18 years was interviewed in each country spanning both urban and rural areas. The data were weighted by income group and male and female. The results are nationally representative. In all but Bangladesh, the interviews were carried out face to face. In Bangladesh, where the penetration rate of mobile phone among adults is between 80 and 90%, the interviews were carried out through random direct dialing.