Submitted by crinadmin on
Forward
Malnutrition is largely a silent and invisible emergency, exacting a
terrible toll on children and their families. The result of multiple
causes, including a lack of food, common and preventable
infections, inadequate care and unsafe water, it plays a role in
more than half of the nearly 12 million deaths each year of
children under five in developing countries, a proportion
unmatched since the Black Death ravaged Europe in the 14th
century. Malnutrition blunts intellects and saps the productivity
and potential of entire societies. Poverty, one of the causes of
malnutrition, is also a consequence, a tragic bequest by
malnourished parents to the next generation.
The State of the World's Children 1998 report details the scale of
the loss and the steps being taken to stem it. Sentinels of
progress are lighting the way: Nearly 60 per cent of the world's
salt is now iodized, and millions of children every year are spared
mental retardation as a result. Vitamin A supplementation is
helping bolster disease resistance in children and may soon
become an important measure in helping reduce maternal deaths
around the world. Communities are working together to identify
their problems, decide on their options and take action, with
women emerging to play leadership roles that spark numerous
other changes in people's lives. Children have the right,
recognized in international law, to good nutrition. The world has
the obligation to protect that right, building on both the great
experience gained and the scientific knowledge achieved. Action
is both possible and imperative.