Staff Report :
At least one in every three children under five across Bangladesh is at the front line of climate change disasters and one in every two suffers from hidden hunger, undermining the capacity of millions of children to grow and develop to their full potential, according to the latest UN report, published on Tuesday.
However, over 19 million children were playing a pivotal role for malnutrition, undernourished or overweight in Bangladesh due to climate change, the UNICEF report said.
In 2018, 58.7 million children under-5 were stunted and almost 25.9 million were wasted in South Asia, the report says adding that more children and young people are surviving, but far too few are thriving.
The government of Bangladesh will begin the second phase of its ‘Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan’ this year, placing greater emphasis on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable, according to the report.
The plan will be giving more attention and resources to ensure that child nutrition, health, education, social protection, and other services are a shield against the effects of climate change.
Floods and riverbank erosion are driving families to city slums, where they face overcrowding and a lack of access to adequate health and nutrition services, adequate nutritious food, especially during first 1,000 days, education, sanitation, hygiene and safe water, according to the UNICEF report titled ‘The State of the World’s Children (SOWC) 2019: Children, food and nutrition – growing well in a changing world”.
In slums, children must often fend for themselves and are at greater risk of malnutrition, child labour, child marriage and exposure to pollution, violence and abuse, according to the South Asia section of the global report.
Extreme climatic events such as drought and flashfloods cause severe agricultural losses, it says.
In a country where 60 percents of the population count on agriculture for their livelihood, children from the poorest families most likely hungry how and then, according to the report.
The reduced production also leads to an increase in food prices, hitting the poorest families the hardest. A rise in communicable and non-communicable diseases linked to changing climate conditions and unplanned urbanisation also threatens children and their families, UNICEF said.
These include diarrhoea, hepatitis A, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, dengue and chikungunya fever.
It is 20 years since the State of the World’s Children last examined children’s nutrition, and, in that time, much has changed.
UNICEF’S flagship report examines the issue of children, food and nutrition, providing a fresh perspective on a rapidly evolving challenge. Despite progress in the past two decades, one-third of children under age 5 are malnourished, stunted, wasted or overweight, while two-thirds are at risk of malnutrition and hidden hunger because of the poor quality of their diets. At the centre of this challenge is a broken food system that fails to provide children with the diets they need to grow healthy.
This report also provided new data and analyses of malnutrition in the 21st century and outlines recommendations to put children’s rights at the heart of food systems.
At least one in every three children under five across Bangladesh is at the front line of climate change disasters and one in every two suffers from hidden hunger, undermining the capacity of millions of children to grow and develop to their full potential, according to the latest UN report, published on Tuesday.
However, over 19 million children were playing a pivotal role for malnutrition, undernourished or overweight in Bangladesh due to climate change, the UNICEF report said.
In 2018, 58.7 million children under-5 were stunted and almost 25.9 million were wasted in South Asia, the report says adding that more children and young people are surviving, but far too few are thriving.
The government of Bangladesh will begin the second phase of its ‘Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan’ this year, placing greater emphasis on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable, according to the report.
The plan will be giving more attention and resources to ensure that child nutrition, health, education, social protection, and other services are a shield against the effects of climate change.
Floods and riverbank erosion are driving families to city slums, where they face overcrowding and a lack of access to adequate health and nutrition services, adequate nutritious food, especially during first 1,000 days, education, sanitation, hygiene and safe water, according to the UNICEF report titled ‘The State of the World’s Children (SOWC) 2019: Children, food and nutrition – growing well in a changing world”.
In slums, children must often fend for themselves and are at greater risk of malnutrition, child labour, child marriage and exposure to pollution, violence and abuse, according to the South Asia section of the global report.
Extreme climatic events such as drought and flashfloods cause severe agricultural losses, it says.
In a country where 60 percents of the population count on agriculture for their livelihood, children from the poorest families most likely hungry how and then, according to the report.
The reduced production also leads to an increase in food prices, hitting the poorest families the hardest. A rise in communicable and non-communicable diseases linked to changing climate conditions and unplanned urbanisation also threatens children and their families, UNICEF said.
These include diarrhoea, hepatitis A, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, dengue and chikungunya fever.
It is 20 years since the State of the World’s Children last examined children’s nutrition, and, in that time, much has changed.
UNICEF’S flagship report examines the issue of children, food and nutrition, providing a fresh perspective on a rapidly evolving challenge. Despite progress in the past two decades, one-third of children under age 5 are malnourished, stunted, wasted or overweight, while two-thirds are at risk of malnutrition and hidden hunger because of the poor quality of their diets. At the centre of this challenge is a broken food system that fails to provide children with the diets they need to grow healthy.
This report also provided new data and analyses of malnutrition in the 21st century and outlines recommendations to put children’s rights at the heart of food systems.
