Starved for Attention - Bangladesh: Terrifying Normalcy

Starved for Attention” produced by Doctors without Borders/ Medecins Sans Frotiers (MSF) and VII Photography captures frontline stories of malnutrition from Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, India, Mexico, and the United States.

Part II: Tackling Childhood Malnutrition

Most damage caused by malnutrition occurs before a child’s second birthday. This is the critical time when the child’s diet has profound, sustained impact on his or her health and on physical and mental development.

In places such as south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, research shows that the cost of purchasing nutritious food is prohibitive form most parents, making it virtually impossible to provide adequate nutrition.

Recent advances in nutrition science and nutrition programming create opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of malnutrition in the world’s most vulnerable regions.

Countries including Mexico, Thailand and Brazil have reduced childhood malnutrition through direct nutrition programs that ensure infants and young children from even the poorest families have access to quality foods such as milk and eggs. Through such programs substantial progress has been made to towards freeing children from consequences that come with malnutrition at an early age. At the same time there is growing political will in Asian and African countries to replicate successful programs.

The World Bank estimates that $12 billion a year is needed to scale up effective nutrition programs to meet current needs. Only $350 million were spent on direct nutrition programs in 2007.

There is not enough emphasis on the types of foods included in aid deliveries in other words, the quality of food. Most current food aid programs for developing countries rely almost exclusively on fortified cereals made from corn and soy blend (CSB), which may relieve a child’s hunger, but does not provide proper nourishment.

In 2009 Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres(MSF) medical teams treated 250,000 children suffering from acute malnutrition in 116 programs in 34 countries primarily with nutrient dense ready-to-use foods, which while more expensive than foods currently provided by the food aid system, actually work to prevent and cure severe malnutrition – and can be used on a very large scale. Currently MSF is operating nutrition programs in 36 countries

In addition to a diet that includes quality foods, micronutrients – key minerals and vitamins such as iodine, iron, vitamin A and Folate – enhance the nutritional value of food and have a profound impact on a child’s development and mother’s health. Doctors Without Borders and other organizations such as UNICEF collaborate with diverse groups of public and private organizations, forming alliances such as the Vitamin A Global Initiative (UNICEF) and work with governments to deliver key minerals and vitamins.

Families and communities are the key players in the battle against childhood malnutrition and must work together to assess, analyze and take action to solve any problems.  The strategy is to empower community members to become their own agents of change. Doctors Without Borders and UNICEF's role is to work with governments to support participatory, community-based programs focusing on children’s survival, growth and development.

Also critical is the need to protect the rights of women and girls. Wherever women are discriminated against, there is greater malnutrition. Children born to mothers with no education are twice as likely to die in infancy as those born to mothers with even four years of schooling. Reproductive health, including birth spacing for at least three years, also reduces stunting and death.

The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes the right of all children to the highest attainable standard of health, and specifically the right to good nutrition. Governments have the legal responsibility to protect that right and it is in the best interest of all that they fulfill this obligation. Malnutrition is both a consequence and cause of poverty. Children’s nutrition and well being are the foundation of a healthy, productive society.