UNICEF: 200 million children are undernourished or overweight

The number of children suffering from the consequences of a bad diet is high, UNICEF warned.

At least 1 in 3 children under five, or more than 200 million, are undernourished or overweight, according to a new report on the State of the World's Children 2019.

Nearly two out of every three children between the ages of six months and two years do not receive food to support their fast-growing bodies and minds, the report said, adding that this puts them at risk of impaired brain development, poor learning, decreased immunity, increased infection, and death.

UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said that if children eat poorly, they live a bad life, and millions of children live on an unhealthy diet simply because they have no better choice, stressing the need to change the way we understand and respond to malnutrition. To provide adequate food for children, most of all is to get the right food for them, this is the common challenge today. '

The report presents the most comprehensive assessment of child malnutrition in all its forms in the 21st century, describing the burden of triple malnutrition of malnutrition, hidden hunger caused by lack of essential nutrients, and overweight among children under five, noting the whole world.

The report warns that poor eating and feeding practices start in the early days of a child's life.Although breastfeeding can save lives, only 42% of children under six months are exclusively breastfed and an increasing number of children drink infant formula.

The report notes that children and adolescents from the poorest and most marginalized communities bear the brunt of malnutrition in all its forms.

It also shows that climate-related disasters cause severe food crises.Drought, for example, is responsible for 80% of damages and losses in agriculture, significantly altering the type of food available to children and families, as well as the quality and price of this food.

To address the growing crisis of malnutrition in all its forms, UNICEF has issued an urgent appeal to governments, the private sector, donors, parents, families and businesses to help children grow healthy.