Malnutrition In Children Is A Major Cause For Concern Throughout The World
Roughly 45 million children around the world suffer from severe malnutrition. When you break that down, that’s nearly 1 out of 3 children under the age of 5.
Malnutrition is a condition that happens when the body doesn’t receive the proper amount of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that it needs to maintain healthy tissues and organ function. While malnutrition is extremely serious whether you are an adult or a child, the effects that malnutrition has on a child is far more severe than that of a fully grown adult.
When a child becomes malnourished their natural ability to grow can be halted, they can appear incredibly thin and in some cases, they may be abnormally bloated. Their sense of light, smell and sight can all be affected by a lack of nutrients. Anxiety and sudden mood changes are common among malnourished children. Children will experience anxiety not only because of their declining health – but many malnourished children often have high anxiety levels wondering where their next meal will come from and when.
Socioeconomic, political and environmental factors all come into play as to why so many children are malnourished throughout the world. Low and middle income countries are some of the most affected areas. But that doesn’t mean that there are no children suffering from malnutrition in decent economic areas.
In 2022, America had over 13 million children that faced hunger. The USDA estimates that 1 in 5 children throughout the USA wonder where their next meal will come from.
There is enough food readily available throughout the world. A child should never go hungry. While 13 million children face hunger in America alone, America throws away roughly 60 million tons of food each year. Think about that for a moment. That’s enough food to ensure that every malnourished child in America is fed properly. The world wastes about 2.5 billion pounds of food each year, with America being the most wasteful country on earth.
There are many charitable organizations that help fight child hunger. Life In Color (LIC) is one of them. LIC raises funds via charitable donation and donor support to help in the fight to end child hunger. The children of the world are our future, they are the world’s future and we must take care of them at all costs. Click here to help in the fight to end child hunger.
