The bad news: Thirty-six percent of all Nepalese children under five are "stunted", or underdeveloped due to long-term malnutrition. This shocking statistic is not just a number, but represents precious little lives that are affected by cognitive delays, small stature, and immature physical development and who are at much greater risk for contracting other diseases.
The good news: The stunting rate is falling!! Not as rapidly as we would like, but it is much lower than it was in 2001 (57%.) This is largely due to education and early detection.
What we're doing to help: HealthEd Connect volunteers are a crucial part of the solution through teaching nutrition and sanitation, and encouraging long-term breast feeding. Weighing babies and children regularly is a critically important step toward catching problems early and providing opportunities to teach mothers about nutrition. The Nepalese government is working to bring the stunting rate down to 1% before 2030!! We can do it!
No comments:
Post a Comment