Ten children die every minute as a result of malnutrition, more than a quarter of children in developing countries are underweight and suffer disease because of their poor diet, and in some areas almost half of all under-fives are malnourished, a new United Nations report says.
Unicef warns that the slow progress on reducing nutritional problems among children means that several key Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets may now be missed. Ann Veneman, executive director of Unicef, said: “The lack of progress to combat malnutrition is damaging children and nations. Few things have more impact than nutrition on a child’s ability to survive, learn effectively and escape a life of poverty.”