After robbing our pocket, inflation is now causing malnutrition in children in South Asian countries according to United Nation International Children and Educational Fund (UNICEF).
According to the organisation the price of rice has doubled since last year while the price of wheat has touched an increase of 130 % creating a risk for more than 100 million people.
UNICEF's official has named this new emerging crisis as an emergency and a silent tsunami which has the tendency to create havoc if goes unchecked especially the risk surrounds the poor children and women.
Regional Director of UNICEF South Asia, David Toole in a press conference in Delhi said that the staggering price rice is pushing harshly the poor in brink which is evident from the fact that poor households are now consuming one less meal to manage their expenses.
Toole said, “When food prices double we have a near perfect storm affecting children in poverty," Toole said. In South Asia, with the world's highest underweight prevalence at 42%, "we are seeing increasing rates of malnutrition in the past several months in mostly western and midwestern areas. These are the poor areas.”
He further said that it is still tough to find that the price rise of essential commodities is the main culprit as in South Asia the malnutrition always remains high.
Giving detail of the report Toole said that for increase of every percentage point, 16 million people are added to the list of food insecure which by 2025 will add 1.2 billion people in chronically hunger population.
What added to India’s woes are its increasing population, the price rise and the already existing malnutrition.
Victor Aguayo, Chief of child nutrition and development, UNICEF in India said, “The increase in food prices is adding another layer of vulnerability, particularly among women and children.”
“Policy action and programme action need to be implemented to mitigate the impact of increasing food prices,” he added.
He said that in every five malnourished children in the world, two belong to India and that inflation can have deleterious affect on a country like India.
The burgeoning food price can also have negative impact on lactating and pregnant mother as well as children below three year of age.
In past few months inflation has hit hardly specially the poor and developing countries. The report also set an alarm for India where 46% of children below five years of age are undernourished.
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