Malnutrition In Africa Decimates Children, No End In Sight

Credit: Colin Crowley(CC)

Malnutrition in Africa continues to spiral out of control despite the sustained efforts of relief organizations. In the Horn of Africa, particularly Somalia, it could not get any worse. According to the United Nations, some 13.3 million people, many of them children, are near-death from starvation.

Not getting enough food and nutrients will lead to malnutrition. As always the case, children are most affected. Malnourished children are underdeveloped mentally and physically. They are prone to disease and death. The World Health Organization reports that malnutrition is linked to 50 percent of child deaths in the world each year.

Symptoms of malnutrition include weight loss, weakness, dizziness, hair loss, stunted growth and developmental delays. In its rarest forms - kwashiorkor and marasmus - protein energy malnutrition will lead to complications and death.

And many of those deaths occur in famine and war-ravaged Africa. Compounding the problem in countries like Somalia is the security situation where militant forces are battling each other for control over territory and power. The push to get food aid to starving children and their families are severely limited by the situation. Restricted flow of aid will not solve the worsening malnutrition in children.

Notwithstanding the dire situation, The World Food Programme has intensified its campaign to save lives in East Africa. It is soliciting more funds for its effort to save up to 13 million people in the Horn of Africa. Other relief organizations are coordinating with each other to halt a growing humanitarian crisis.

But unless the political situation is resolved, malnutrition in Africa will remain a huge problem. The children of Africa continues to cry for food to save their lives.

Posted by enriquez on Wednesday October 05 2011, 11:32 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health, Original. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0