Worldwide, 200 million children are affected by low height-for-age or low-weight-for-height, which can cause a weak immune system and decreased cognitive capacity. Tragically, those children have a probability of death 11 times higher than healthy children.
This problem is due to malnutrition, a lack of nutrients that leads to reduced growth capacities over time. For women, this contributes to complications during pregnancy and childbirth. In addition, children are more likely to be underweight and vulnerable to infection. Sadly, malnutrition can be accounted for 50 per cent of deaths of children under five years.
Increasing financial aid and setting up programs in developing countries to improve maternal, child and reproductive health would greatly benefit societies that are battled by poverty.
Policy-makers must act now and show more commitment. Let’s tackle the biggest problem in the world – malnutrition.
Dr. Karolin Klement
Calgary
