On Monday, the United Nations issued a stark warning about the worsening malnutrition crisis in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), highlighting that approximately one-third of children in the region are affected. According to UNICEF, this encompasses around 77 million children, with 55 million classified as overweight or obese—conditions considered types of malnutrition. Additionally, 24 million children suffer from undernutrition, which includes issues such as stunting, wasting, and thinness. The UN attributed the crisis to several factors, including poor dietary quality, limited access to nutritious food, clean water, medical care, and other essential services. The situation is exacerbated by ongoing conflicts, political instability, climatic shocks, and escalating food prices, which collectively hinder children's access to adequate nutrition and limit humanitarian aid to vulnerable communities. UNICEF's regional director, Adele Khodr, emphasized that only a third of young children receive nutritious food, a troubling statistic given the current year’s challenges. The UN has called on governments to prioritize nutrition in their policies and planning to address this urgent issue. Additionally, recent reports from UN agencies indicate that global hunger remains persistently high, with around 733 million people experiencing hunger in 2023, a figure unchanged from previous years despite efforts to combat the issue. Moderate and severe food insecurity affected 2.33 billion people last year, reflecting a significant portion of the global population facing difficulties in accessing sufficient food.
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2568011/middle-east
Photo credit: UNICEF said that ‘ongoing conflicts, political instability, climatic shocks, and rising food prices that together, deny children their right to nutritious food.’ (AFP)
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