Child Nutrition Report 2024

About Child Nutrition Report 2024:

• It was released by UNICEF.
• This global report examines the status, trends, inequities, and drivers of child food poverty in early childhood, including the impact of global and local food and nutrition crises.
• The report focuses on low- and middle-income countries, where most children living in child food poverty reside, and on the implications of child food poverty for undernutrition and poor development.
• UNICEF defines child food poverty as children’s inability to access and consume a nutritious and diverse diet in early childhood (i.e., the first five years of life).
• Highlights of the 2024 Report:
  • One in four children underage 5 around the world (some 27% of children under age 5—or 181 million) is experiencing severe food poverty and is vulnerable to life-threatening malnutrition.
  • Over two-thirds of the181 million young children living in severe food poverty live in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, with 20 countries accounting for 65% of the children living in severe food poverty.
  • These countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, South Africa, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Yemen.
  • The report also found that children in both poor and non-poor households face severe food poverty.
  • About half (97 million) of the children in severe food poverty live in middle- and upper-income households.

Q1: What is UNICEF?

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), originally known as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children and mothers in countries that had been devastated by World War II. In 1950, UNICEF’s mandate was extended to address the long-term needs of children and women in developing countries everywhere. In 1953, it became a permanent part of the UN System.UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories and in the world’s toughest places to reach the children and young people in greatest need. UNICEF supports immunization programs for childhood diseases and programs to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS; it also provides funding for health services, educational facilities, and other welfare services.

Source: UNICEF: 1 in 4 young children lives in severe food poverty

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