“Increasing global hunger and malnutrition pose one of the greatest threats to the future of children today. The youngest, poorest and most marginalized children are victims of a perfect storm of increasing conflict, poverty and climate shocks that are undermining the remarkable progress made in the world Threatening to destroy children.” Survival and nutrition.
“Child wasting, when a child’s weight becomes too low for their height, is a condition that significantly jeopardizes a child’s ability to survive and thrive. Worldwide, more than 45 million (~7 percent) children under the age of five suffer from wasting, with over 45 million children under the age of five suffering from severe wasting and 13 million. Even if a child survives, wasting can impact their long-term growth and development.
“Last year, a historic increase in global funding enabled child wasting treatment to expand to meet unprecedented needs: 7.3 million children with severe wasting were reached with life-saving support, a 35 percent increase from 2021 and the highest annual number.” Nutritional supplementation for children with moderate wasting also increased by 11 percent, reaching 9.1 million children.
“Despite these advances, many severely malnourished children still do not have access to treatment. Sustained action is needed to maintain progress and reach more children with life-saving care. But no child should be malnourished. Much more needs to be done to prevent children from wasting malnutrition and protect them from the lifelong individual and social impacts of malnutrition.
“Evidence-based interventions need to be scaled up for the most vulnerable populations to ensure that the youngest children have access to nutritious food, essential nutrition services, and positive feeding and care practices to prevent malnutrition. This includes investing in women’s health and nutrition, particularly during pregnancy.” Improvements in newborn nutrition and care.
“Progress is possible through concerted action.”
“23 countries have now completed country roadmaps under the Global Action Plan on Child Wasting, and 36 country commitments to combat child wasting were made at the 2021 Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit.
“In 2023, new WHO guidelines on the prevention and treatment of wasting and nutritional edema (acute malnutrition) outline the path to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery through a multi-sector approach to child health. Innovative financing modalities such as child nutrition.” The Fund also offers governments and donors new opportunities to support the rapid scale-up of essential interventions for the early prevention, detection and treatment of child wasting.
“The time to act is now. Governments, donors, UN agencies, NGOs and civil society organizations must seize these opportunities and prioritize child nutrition to achieve the global goal of reducing wasting among children under five to less than 3 percent by 2030 .
“The Global Food Security Summit in the UK is an important moment for stakeholders to come together and commit to taking the necessary action to protect the lives and futures of the world’s most vulnerable children.”
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