Child Hunger in the World - Essay Example

Child Hunger in the World Child hunger is one of the most important issues that many developing and underdeveloped countries are facing in the present age. It is one of those issues that demand immediate attention because the rate of child death is alarming. In the Latin American, African, and Asian countries, the number of people that live in “absolute poverty” according to the definition of the term by the World Bank exceeds 500 million and 15 million children die because of hunger every year (“The world hunger”). The price it takes to make a missile is enough to provide a school filled with hungry children with lunch for 5 full years without missing a day. According to the estimates laid out by the World Health Organization, the total people of the world are divided into three categories each carrying 33.33 per cent; the well-fed people, the under-fed people, and the starving people (“The world hunger”). Hunger, to some extent, means malnutrition of protein energy. Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) is generally interpreted as a lack of protein and calories. The importance of protein in the major functions of the body such as muscle development and maintenance and building up of the necessary amino acids in the body cannot be overemphasized. The biggest sufferers from hunger are children. A significant population of children is undernourished or suffers from malnutrition. Children are affected even before they are born because of the malnutrition of their mothers. Malnutrition is of two basic types: the first type of malnutrition is the one which is discussed most frequently in the discussions of world hunger. It refers to lack of sufficient protein and energy in the food which is provided by all basic groups of food. The second type of malnutrition is known as the micronutrient deficiency. While this is a very important kind of malnutrition, it is not discussed much in the world hunger. There are three fundamental ways in which children suffer from undernutrition, and the most common way in which this is assessed is the height and weight measurement. Many children are too short for their age or weigh lesser than what most children their age weigh. An underweight child can be either wasted or stunted or both (UNICEF 13). Almost 195 million children below the age of 5 years are affected by stunting in the developing world, which is the same as one in every three children (UNICEF 15-19). There are high stunting rates in Asia and Africa, which are 36 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. This is also evident from the fact that over 90 per cent of the stunted children all over the world exist on Asia and Africa (UNICEF 15-19). The chance of death is markedly increased in the children that suffer from wasting. UNICEF reports that 13 per cent of children in the developing world below 5 years of age get wasted, and the percentage of extremely wasted children is about 5, which sums up to 26 million (UNICEF 20). The number of underweight children below 5 years of age in the developing world is 120 million, which makes one child in every four children whereas the percentage of severely underweight children in the developing world is 10 (UNICEF 17). Asia and Africa also have high rates of underweight children. The percentage of underweight children in Asia is 27 whereas their percentage in Africa is 21 (UNICEF 17). According to World Health Organization, “The proportion of children under 5 years old in developing countries who were underweight is estimated to have declined only 11% between 1990 and 2010 from 29% to 18%. This rate of progress is insufficient to meet the MDG target of halving 1990 levels of underweight by 2015” (“Facts on Hunger”). In the year 2010, almost 7.6 million children died because of hunger. However, there has been a drop in the mortality rate of under-five children globally since the year 1990 35 per cent. In 1990, 88 children died out of 1000 live births whereas in the year 2010, the number of deaths dropped to 57. Sub-Saharan Africa hosts the highest child mortality rates. 1 child in every 8 die before reaching the age of 5 years in Sub-Saharan Africa which is over 17 times the average rate in the developed regions where no more than 1 child dies in every 43 before the age of 5 years. In Southern Asia, 1 child dies in every 15 before becoming 5 years old. According to the findings of (UNICEF 1), at least 50 per cent of the 7.6 million deaths happening among children every year can be attributed to poor nutrition. Every year, poorly nourished children suffer from illness up to 160 days. The effect of all diseases is magnified because of undernutrition. Such diseases include but are not limited to malaria and measles. Death proportions that can be attributed to undernutrition are approximately the same for pneumonia, malaria, diarrhea, and measles which are 52 per cent, 57 per cent, 61 per cent and 45 per cent respectively (Black). Many diseases which cause diarrhea also cause malnutrition by reducing the ability of the body to convert the food into the essential nutrients. Poverty is the main factor that is responsible for child hunger. In most of the developing countries of the world, one of the most alarming problems is extreme poverty. Conflict and natural disasters are two significant causes of child hunger, but they are less important causes than poverty. Conflict is known as a man-made disaster euphemistically. Some examples of natural disasters are floods and droughts. Poverty also affects many other aspects of the health of children in addition to their hunger, thus maximizing the effect of poor health as well as hunger. For example, poor children live in the poor agricultural communities or in urban slums without the sanitation facilities or sewers. The lack of sanitation not only causes sickness among the children but also is the cause of contamination of water. Children consume water unfit for drinking and thus suffer from diarrhea which is a very important cause of illness among children. Diarrhea reduces the ability of children’s body to extract enough nutrients from food and thus proves to be a very important cause of hunger. Hunger itself is also one of the factors that cause poverty. Hunger causes low energy levels, poor health, and mental impairment particularly during the childhood which causes greater poverty in the long run by reducing the ability of people to work and learn. There is an on-going debate about the status of climate change as a cause of poverty and hunger in the world. Increasing floods, drought, and changing patterns of the climate necessitate a shift in the farming practices and crops which might not be accomplished very easily. Micronutrients are very important for health. People living in the developing countries are affected by the deficiencies of minerals and vitamins. Three very important micronutrients for the health are Vitamin A, Iron, and Iodine. The deficiency of Vitamin A is a major cause of night blindness and it also reduces the resistance of the body to disease. Children suffering from the deficiency of Vitamin A also experience retardation in growth. According to World Health Organization, the population of children suffering from the deficiency of Vitamin A is from 100 to 140 million and the estimated number of children deficient in Vitamin A that become blind annually is between 250,000 and 500,000 (Tidy). Half of these children die within a year of the time since they lose their sight. The deficiency of iron is a major cause of anemia. Health consequences of the deficiency of iron in children include but are not limited to premature birth, infections, elevated death risk, and low birth weight. As the child grows up, his/her cognitive and physical development gets impaired which affects the child’s performance in school negatively. The mental health of children is jeopardized because of the disorders caused by the deficiency of iodine. Women suffering from serious deficiency of iodine during pregnancy have high chances of experiencing abortions, stillbirths, and a e of congenital abnormalities like cretinism. The deficiency of iodine also affects the mental performance of children. Hunger is a growing problem among all ages of people in general and among the children in particular. Hunger is particularly observed in the developing and underdeveloped countries. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people lose their lives because of hunger. This imparts the need to take serious steps to stop the problem from aggravating, and to reduce the percentage of children dying because of hunger. Some steps that can be taken in this regard include but are not limited to providing children with meals in the schools, and school feeding programs offering the children take-home rations. These steps may prove effective in alleviating hunger at least in the short-term. Alongside, these measures are likely to improve children’s abilities to learn, concentrate, and perform different kinds of tasks as well as facilitate their physical and cognitive development. Works Cited: Black, R. E., Morris, S. S., and Bryce, J. “Where and why are 10 million children dying every year?” Lancet. 28;361 (9376): 2226-2234. 2003. “Facts on Hunger.” Stop Hunger Now. 2013. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. . “The world hunger problem: Facts, figures, and statistics.” N.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. . Tidy, Colin. “Vitamin A Deficiency.” 2011. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. . UNICEF. The State of the Worlds Children 2008: Women and Children - Child Survival. New York. 2008. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. UNICEF. Tracking progress on child and maternal nutrition: A survival and development priority. New York. 2009. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. Read More