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An infant confined at the Dr. Jose P. Rizal Memorial Provincial District Hospital in Calamba, Laguna on August 13, 2019 is placed under a makeshift oxygen hood made of a 6-liter plastic water container. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File

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Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dii"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/171765972236120190813-laguna-hospital-oxygen-hood-JC-2.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dii" alt="An infant confined at the Dr. Jose P. Rizal Memorial Provincial District Hospital in Calamba, Laguna on August 13, 2019 is placed under a makeshift oxygen hood made of a 6-liter plastic water container. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">An infant confined at the Dr. Jose P. Rizal Memorial Provincial District Hospital in Calamba, Laguna on August 13, 2019 is placed under a makeshift oxygen hood made of a 6-liter plastic water container. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File</span></span></span></div><p>UNITED NATIONS — More than one in four children under the age of five globally live in &quot;severe&quot; food poverty, UNICEF has warned — meaning more than 180 million are at risk of experiencing adverse impacts on their growth and development.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/12/02/23/experts-warn-parents-on-unhealthy-food">• Experts warn parents on &#x27;unhealthy food&#x27;</a></div><p>&quot;Severe child food poverty describes children who are surviving on severely deprived diets so they&#x27;re only consuming two or less food groups,&quot; Harriet Torlesse, a lead writer of a new UNICEF report published late Wednesday, told AFP.</p><p>&quot;It is shocking in this day and age where we know what needs to be done.&quot;</p><p>UNICEF recommends that young children eat foods daily from five of eight main groups — breast milk; grains, roots, tubers and plantains; pulses, nuts and seeds; dairy; meat, poultry and fish; eggs; vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables; and other fruits and vegetables.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/08/04/23/breastmilk-sugar-molecule-boosts-infant-brains-study">• Breastmilk sugar molecule boosts infant brains: study</a></div><p>But 440 million children under the age of five living in about 100 low- and middle-income countries are living in food poverty, meaning they do not have access to five food groups each day.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/28/23/over-300000-4ps-beneficiaries-may-also-qualify-for-food-stamps-dswd">• Over 300,000 4Ps beneficiaries may also qualify for food stamps: DSWD</a></div><p>Of those, 181 million are experiencing severe food poverty, eating from at most two food groups.</p><p>&quot;Children who consume just two food groups per day — for example, rice and some milk — are up to 50 percent more likely to experience severe forms of malnutrition,&quot; UNICEF chief Catherine Russell said in a statement accompanying the report.</p><p>That malnutrition can lead to emaciation, a state of being abnormally thin that can be fatal.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/12/23/malnutrition-still-prevalent-in-ph-study">• Malnutrition still prevalent in PH: study</a></div><p>And even if these children survive and grow up, &quot;they certainly don&#x27;t thrive. So they do less well at school,&quot; Torlesse explained.</p><p>&quot;When they&#x27;re adults, they find it harder to earn a decent income, and that turns the cycle of poverty from one generation to the next,&quot; the nutrition expert said.</p><p>&quot;If you think of what a brain looks like and the heart and the immune system, all these important systems of the body that are so important for development, for protection against disease — they all depend on vitamins and minerals and protein.&quot;</p><div><strong>TOO MUCH SALT, FAT, SUGAR</strong></div><p>Severe child food poverty is concentrated in about 20 countries, with particularly dire situations in: Somalia, where 63 percent of young children are affected; Guinea (54 percent); Guinea-Bissau (53 percent) and Afghanistan (49 percent).</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/2/23/ban-sought-on-additional-sugar-in-baby-food-1618">• Ban sought on additional sugar in baby food</a></div><p>While data is not available for wealthy countries, children in low-income households there also suffer from nutritional gaps.</p><p>The report from the UN Children&#x27;s Fund notes the current circumstances in the Gaza Strip &quot;have brought the food and health systems to collapse.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/6/5/some-gazans-drinking-sewage-water-who-regional-chief-1657">• Some Gazans &#x27;drinking sewage water&#x27;: WHO regional chief</a></div><p>From December to April this year, the agency collected five rounds of data by text message from families receiving financial aid in the besieged Palestinian territory.</p><p>It showed that about nine in 10 children were living in severe food poverty.</p><p>While the data is not necessarily representative, it indicates what UNICEF called an &quot;appalling escalation in nutrition deprivation since 2020, when only 13 percent of children in the Gaza Strip were living in severe child food poverty.&quot;</p><p>Worldwide, the agency noted &quot;slow progress over the past decade&quot; in addressing the crisis, and called for better social services and humanitarian aid for the most vulnerable children.</p><p>It also called for a rethink of the global food processing system, saying that sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods were being &quot;aggressively marketed to parents and families and are the new normal for feeding children.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/13/23/solo-parents-breastfeeding-moms-included-in-food-stamp-program">• Single parents, breastfeeding moms included in gov&#x27;t food stamp program: officials</a></div><p>Torlesse explained: &quot;These foods are cheap but they&#x27;re also very high in calories. They&#x27;re high-energy, high salt, high fat. So they&#x27;ll fill stomachs and they&#x27;ll remove hunger, but they won&#x27;t provide the vitamins and minerals that children need.&quot;</p><p>Sugary and salty foods -- which children quickly develop a taste for, a habit they can take into adulthood -- also contribute to the development of obesity.</p><div><strong>— By Amélie Bottollier-Depois, </strong><strong>Agence France-Presse</strong><strong> </strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rlmEWnlKhVU?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" width="640"></iframe></div>

<p>More than one in four children under the age of five globally live in "severe" food poverty, UNICEF has warned.</p>

More than one in four children under the age of five globally live in "severe" food poverty, UNICEF has warned.

More than 1 in 4 children under age 5 face 'severe' food poverty: UNICEF

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More than 1 in 4 children under age 5 face 'severe' food poverty: UNICEF

Agence France-Presse

Published June 06, 2024 04:07 PM PHT

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