Goal 1: Child undernourishment

What is causing the increase of under nourishment rate?

• Neglect of agriculture relevant to very poor people by governments and international agencies

• The current worldwide economic crisis

• The significant increase of food prices in the last several years which has been devastating to those with only a few dollars a day to spend. 1.02 billion people is 15 percent of the estimated world population of 6.8 billion. Nearly all of the undernourished are in developing countries.

1.    Children who are poorly nourished suffer up to 160 days of illness each year

2.    Undernutrition magnifies the effect of every disease, including measles and malaria. The estimated proportions of deaths in which undernutrition is an underlying cause are roughly similar for diarrhea (61%), malaria (57%), pneumonia (52%), and measles (45%)  

3.    Under-nutrition among pregnant women in developing countries leads to 1 out of 6 infants born with low birth weight. This is not only a risk factor for neonatal deaths, but also causes learning disabilities, mental, retardation, poor health, blindness and premature death

Source: WorldHunger.org