Johannesburg, May 12, 2009 (UN Integrated Regional Information Networks/All
Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- During the three-year Asian financial crisis
in the 1990s, the number of children suffering from anaemia in Indonesia
increased significantly as the poor could not afford quality food.
The condition is caused by body tissues and organs suffering a lack of oxygen
when there are insufficient micronutrients such as iron in the diet. The
percentage of children experiencing anaemia rose from 52 percent in 1996 to 68
percent in 1998, said a new report, Investing in the Future, citing a study.
The research found that among poor households, low consumption of eggs and dark
leafy vegetables - both important sources of micronutrients like iron - resulted
in an increased prevalence of anaemia in both mothers and children. "The effects
were particularly severe for children conceived during and immediately prior to
the crisis."
The global economy is now in recession and children in developing countries are
most at risk, warned the joint authors of the report, a group of nutrition
advocacy NGOs: Micronutrient Initiative, Flour Fortification Initiative and
Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, and aid agencies USAID, the Canadian
International Development Agency, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World
Bank and the World Health Organisation.
A World Bank study on the impact of the current financial crisis has estimated
that in 2008 alone, higher food prices may have been responsible for an
additional 44 million children suffering permanent physical and cognitive
setbacks due to malnutrition.
The authors of Investing in the Future, which was released at the 2009
Micronutrient Forum in Beijing on 12 May, urged countries to increase their
investments, renew commitments and expand existing vitamin and mineral
supplementation programmes.
Micronutrient deficiencies lead to more frequent infections, reduce children's
ability to fight and survive disease, and impair mental capacity. In adults,
vitamin and mineral deficiencies can affect general productivity and cause
debilitating illnesses and even death. Deficiencies during pregnancy threaten
the health and lives of women, and negatively affect their unborn children.
Inexpensive supplements and fortificants are available: the cost of salt
iodization is a mere five cents per person per year, while vitamin A capsules
cost two US cents each.
According to the report, worldwide, every year:
- 1.1 million children under five die due to vitamin A and zinc deficiencies
- 136,000 women and children die from iron-deficiency anaemia
- 18 million babies are born mentally impaired because of maternal iodine
deficiency
- 150,000 babies are born with severe birth effects due to inadequate maternal
B-vitamin intake
- 350,000 children become blind due to vitamin A deficiency
- 1.6 billion people suffer reduced productive capacity as result of anaemia
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
Copyright UN Integrated Regional Information Networks. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
SUBJECT CODE: news
Health and Medicine
Nutrition
Children and Youth