Kumar Ray

Poor nutrition is a leading cause of death of children in many developing countries. Nearly 49% of the 10 million children under the age of five who die every year is because of poor nutrition and hunger, worldwide.  In the year 2013, 6.3 million children of five years and less died due to hunger, which comes to about 17,000 children dying every day. In Africa, especially the sub-Saharan region, one-third of all child deaths are attributed to hunger and malnutrition. The added burden of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis among African children makes them even more vulnerable targets.  23 million children in Africa attend schools and classes in a hungry state.

The major reasons for hunger in Africa is poverty, lack of food security due to erratic environmental conditions and war. Nearly 1.4 billion people live in absolute poverty, which is defined by living on less than 1 USD per day per person. Poverty drives the lack of resources to obtain food and when this situation is combined with political conflicts and socioeconomic problems, the result is chronic hunger. The World Bank describes this as a vicious cycle because poverty drives hunger, which in turn results in unhealthy individuals who lose up to 10% of potential earnings had they been healthy. This in turn can impact an entire country since it loses its potential economic labor force. Child hunger is under more focus than adult hunger because children are the future of any society. And if they are malnourished and hungry, the subsequent generation will simply comprise of stunted individuals with low intelligent quotients, poor health and limited mental abilities.   

Implications of child hunger in Africa

The implication of hunger in children is stunting, muscle wasting and poor immunity. Females who remain malnourished all through their childhood and into child-bearing years would give birth to children who are malnourished as their mothers. Child hunger is widely associated with micronutrient deficiency of vitamin A, zinc, iron, vitamin B12 and iodine that cause a cohort of otherwise completely avoidable diseases such as blindness, cognitive impairment, spina bifida and pernicious anemia. It would be difficult to contain the spread of infectious diseases if there are a plethora of hosts with poor immunity to aid the spread.

Ways to tackle child hunger in Africa

Studies by Remans and coworkers has suggested that by implementing an integrated, multisector intervention program, it would be possible to reduce stunting by as much as 43%. With help from world organizations such as the WHO, UNICEF and the UN, it would be possible to reduce and even eradicate child hunger in the world.

References

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Mayne, R. (2006). Causing hunger: An overview of the food crisis in Africa. Oxfam Policy and Practice: Agriculture, Food and Land, 6(2), 97-135.

Muthayya, S., Rah, J. H., Sugimoto, J. D., Roos, F. F., Kraemer, K., & Black, R. E. (2013). The global hidden hunger indices and maps: an advocacy tool for action. PLoS One, 8(6), e67860.

Remans, R., Pronyk, P. M., Fanzo, J. C., Chen, J., Palm, C. A., Nemser, B., … & Mensah-Homiah, J. (2011). Multisector intervention to accelerate reductions in child stunting: an observational study from 9 sub-Saharan African countries. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 94(6), 1632-1642.

Sanchez, P. A., & Swaminathan, M. S. (2005). Hunger in Africa: the link between unhealthy people and unhealthy soils. The Lancet, 365(9457), 442-444.

Schönfeldt, H. C., & Hall, N. G. (2012). Dietary protein quality and malnutrition in Africa. British Journal of Nutrition, 108(S2), S69-S76.

UNICEF. (n.d.). Goal: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/mdg/poverty.html

Weinreb, L., Wehler, C., Perloff, J., Scott, R., Hosmer, D., Sagor, L., & Gundersen, C. (2002). Hunger: its impact on children’s health and mental health. Pediatrics, 110(4), e41-e41.