UN to target mother, child nutrition
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has drafted a plan to commit its member states and development partners to improve the health of mothers and their children worldwide.
The measures, which will be included in a WHO report to be entitled “Maternal, infant and young child nutrition: implementation plan,” were discussed Monday at WHO’s ongoing 64th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva.
The draft includes the implementation of priority nutrition interventions and policies on health care, education and agriculture with the aim of confronting under-nutrition, low birth weight and obesity and its resultant vitamin and mineral deficiencies in both children and mothers.
More than 100 million children under the age of five were underweight in 2010, and at least 170 million were stunted, according to WHO figures. Micronutrient deficiency, including anemia and vitamin A deficiency, are of increasing concern worldwide.
On the other hand, about 43 million children were estimated to be overweight and obese in 2010. More mothers are becoming overweight each year, a condition which increases the risk of developing birth complications.
Countries need help to scale up effective actions to combat nutrition problems, said Francesco Branca, the director of WHO’s Nutrition for Health and Development department, at a news conference in Geneva.
Malnutrition, in all its forms, impairs cognitive and physical development, reproductive health and immune systems. It therefore threatens the survival of the children and infants, WHO warns.
The growing rate of obesity in many middle and low-income countries has, similarly, resulted in a raise in the incidence of non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular problems.
Source: presstv.ir
