GS Paper I
News Excerpt:
The Unicef recently released a report titled "Child Food Poverty report" which sheds light on a distressing reality that demands urgent attention and action regarding severe child food poverty.
More about News: The concept of child food poverty introduced by UNICEF is a crucial step in addressing the complex issue of malnutrition and poor dietary quality among children, particularly in the critical early years of life. By framing it as a form of poverty, UNICEF underscores the multidimensional nature of the problem, highlighting not only the lack of access to food but also the inadequacy of nutritionally diverse diets.
- Definition: Defining child food poverty as the inability of children to access and consume a nutritious and diverse diet during their early years emphasizes the importance of early interventions to mitigate its damaging effects. The consequences of such deprivation during this critical developmental period can be profound, impacting not only immediate health outcomes but also long-term prospects for education, economic productivity, and overall well-being.
- Insufficient Dietary Intake: Recognizing that insufficient dietary intake of essential nutrients in early childhood can have lasting repercussions underscores the urgency of addressing this issue comprehensively. By prioritizing interventions aimed at improving access to nutritious foods and promoting dietary diversity, policymakers, governments, and communities can break the cycle of poverty and deprivation that often accompanies child food poverty.
- Initiative: Investments in nutrition programs, social protection initiatives, and education are essential components of a holistic approach to combating child food poverty and ensuring that every child has the opportunity to thrive. By addressing this fundamental aspect of child development, we can pave the way for a healthier, more prosperous future for generations to come.
UNDERSTANDING CHILD FOOD POVERTY:
- 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.
- The analyses used data from the UNICEF Global Database on Infant and Young Child Feeding, comprising data from 670 nationally representative surveys conducted in 137 countries and territories, and representing more than 90 per cent of all young children globally.
- Analyzed national survey data to understand severe child food poverty's link to undernutrition. Additionally, rapid assessments in affected communities explored feeding challenges during food crises.
THE CRISIS OF SEVERE CHILD FOOD POVERTY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
- Our six key findings reveal the widespread nature of severe child food poverty globally during early childhood, the limited progress in reducing it, its prevalence across both poor and non-poor households, and the significant deprivation of essential nutritious foods crucial for children's survival, growth, and development among those affected.
- Global prevalence: Approximately one in four children under the age of five, totaling 181 million children globally, are living in severe child food poverty. This highlights the widespread nature of the issue and its significant impact on millions of children worldwide.
- Regional disparities: While severe child food poverty affects all regions of the world, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa bear the highest burden, with over two-thirds of the affected children residing in these regions.
- Concentration in specific countries: Twenty countries account for the majority of children living in severe child food poverty, indicating the concentration of the issue in certain geographic areas.
- Slow progress: Despite efforts to address child food poverty, global progress has been sluggish. While some regions and countries have made strides in reducing its prevalence, overall progress remains inadequate.
- Income disparities: Child food poverty affects children across both poor and non-poor households, indicating that household income alone is not the sole determinant. While income poverty plays a significant role for children in the poorest wealth quintiles, other factors contribute to the problem for children in middle and upper wealth quintiles.
- Dietary deficiencies: Children living in severe child food poverty often lack access to nutrient-rich foods, with a significant proportion relying primarily on breastmilk, dairy, and starchy staples. Conversely, unhealthy foods and beverages are increasingly prevalent in their diets, further exacerbating nutritional deficiencies.
- Impact of crises: The global food and nutrition crisis, along with localized conflicts and climatic shocks, exacerbate severe child food poverty, particularly in fragile and humanitarian settings. Events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, conflicts, and climate-related disasters have worsened the situation in many regions, leading to dire consequences for children and families.
ENDING SEVERE CHILD FOOD POVERTY
- Severe child food poverty, driven by inequities, conflict, climate crises, poverty, unhealthy food availability, marketing, and inadequate feeding practices, demands urgent, coordinated action in development and humanitarian contexts to ensure accountability and address the escalating threats to children's diets.
- Position child food poverty elimination as a policy imperative and child food poverty reduction as a metric of success towards achieving global and national nutrition and development goals, with time-bound targets and results in relevant sectoral and multisectoral plans.
- Transform food systems by ensuring food environments make nutritious, diverse and healthy foods the most accessible, affordable and desirable option for feeding young children, and the food and beverage industry complies with policies and regulations to protect children from unhealthy foods and beverages.
- Leverage health systems to deliver essential nutrition services to prevent and treat child malnutrition including community-based counselling, support and services to improve feeding and care practices in early childhood prioritizing the most vulnerable children.
- Activate social protection systems to address income poverty in ways that are responsive to the food and nutrition needs of vulnerable young children and their families, including social transfers (cash, vouchers and food) to protect children at highest risk of child food poverty.
- Strengthen data systems to assess the prevalence and severity of child food poverty and identify its drivers; detect increases in child food poverty early, including in fragile and humanitarian contexts; and track national and global progress in reducing severe child food poverty.
Way Forward:
To end severe child food poverty, all stakeholders, including governments, organizations, civil society, media, academia, research bodies, and the food industry, must commit to a comprehensive response and hold each other accountable for transforming food, health, and social protection systems.
Goverment:
- Ensure policy and regulatory frameworks support actions to address severe child food poverty, free of conflicts of interest.
- Set time-bound targets in sectoral plans, allocate resources, assign accountabilities, and review progress annually to reduce severe child food poverty.
- Invest in data systems for tracking progress and conducting rapid assessments, particularly in fragile contexts and during humanitarian crises.
Development and humanitarian organizations:
- Make reducing severe child food poverty essential for achieving national and global nutrition targets and protecting children's nutrition rights.
- Build the capacity of governments and partners to develop, implement, monitor, and evaluate policies and programs to reduce severe child food poverty.
- Support a global mechanism to track progress and develop rapid detection and monitoring approaches for severe child food poverty in fragile settings and crises.
Civil society and media:
- Advocate with governments and influential leaders for political support and resources to eliminate child food poverty and build public awareness and opinion on the imperative to act.
- Track investments and monitor the actions of governments, partners and donors to end severe child food poverty and bring attention to major shortfalls.
- Ensure food and beverage companies comply with standards protecting children from unhealthy products and highlight any violations.
Financial partners:
- Ensure company policies and products comply with laws and standards protecting children from unhealthy foods, including the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and World Health Assembly resolutions.
- Commit and deliver financial investments to reduce severe child food poverty, targeting countries and populations most in need.
- Secure global commitments for ending severe child food poverty; leverage resources from other financial partners; and coordinate and align financial support to countries.
