Thousands of children will die of under-nutrition on World Food Day

World Vision's releases nutrition report on World Food Day

Every day, more than 7,500 children under the age of five die as a result of under-nutrition. Those statistics eclipse any famine death toll and perhaps ironically will remain the same on World Food Day this Sunday (16 Oct).

"An estimated 2.8 million children, more than half the population of New Zealand, die each year of simple, preventable causes linked to under-nutrition" explains World Vision CEO Chris Clarke.

"Perhaps, because the deaths mostly occur in the developing world, they tragically go un-noticed".

According to the aid agency's latest nutrition report "The Best Start: Saving Children's Lives in Their First 1,000 Days" the deaths can be easily avoided by inexpensive means.

"For example, Vitamin A deficiency causes blindness and kills almost half a million children annually yet can be addressed in developing countries for just NZ$1.55 per child per year" says Clarke.

The report found simple interventions like improving access to nutritious food and micronutrients, education about exclusive breastfeeding, pre and post-natal care for women, and early detection and treatment of child malnutrition can make all the difference.

"Under nutrition is not just a developing world problem. A number of recent reports have confirmed what health professionals and others have been saying for a long time - that it's on the rise in New Zealand children too" says Clarke. "It is ironic indeed that in the land of milk and honey an increasing number of our children are under nourished".

In 2000, world leaders pledged to reduce child mortality by two thirds via the Millennium Development Goals. "With just four years to go (until the 2015 deadline) we have much work to do, particularly in parts of the Pacific where child and maternal health is particularly poor" says Clarke.