an exhibition on the global malnutrition crisis

Five million children under five years old die as a result of malnutrition every year. Take a moment to reflect on that dreadful statistic.
We never see starving children with wasted limbs walking the streets of our cities. And yet their image is all too familiar from our television screens; clinging to life, waiting desperately for help.
Is it a case of "out of sight, out of mind"? Or have we simply come to accept this appalling situation as a fact of life?
China.org.cn has collaborated with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to give you an in-depth look at the global malnutrition crisis.

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VIDEO

Food is not enough

Massive nutritional intervention in southern Ethiopia 2008

Treating malnourished children at home

BACKGROUNDERS

What is the malnutrition crisis?

Malnutrition is the underlying cause of death for between three and five million children under five every year.

Who is most at risk?

Malnutrition affects first and foremost children under the age of two, but young children less than five years of age, adolescents, pregnant or lactating mothers, the elderly and the chronically ill (including those with HIV/AIDS and TB) are also vulnerable.

What are the consequences of malnutrition?

Malnutrition is associated with half of all deaths in children under the age of five each year. The risk of death is particularly high for children with severe acute malnutrition, up to 20 times higher than a healthy child.

Why do children become malnourished?

Children become malnourished when they do not receive the adequate nutrients their bodies require to resist infection and maintain growth.

What are the nutritional needs of a growing child?

Breast milk is the only food that a child younger than six months of age needs. After six months, children requiremore energy and essential nutrients like proteins, essential fats and about 20 different vitamins and minerals than breast milk alone can provide.

Why does ready-to-use food work?

Ready-to-use foods (RUFs) is an effective treatment because each packet delivers 500 calories in the form of a dense nutrient spread that contains fortified milk powder and delivers the 40 essential nutrients that a malnourished child needs to reverse nutrient deficiencies and gain weight.

Jill Mowbray

Jill Clare Mowbray is a British nurse working on the nutritional emergency program in southern Ethiopia. She was in charge of the outreach therapeutic program (OTP) of Hadero, SNNP region, one of the districts where MSF has cared for most severely malnourished patients.

Robin Sands

Robin Sands is an Australian logistician, responsible for food supply of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) nutritional programs in Maradi, southern Niger in 2006. This is Robin’s second mission with MSF and in the following interview he describes the technical aspects of delivering food and some of the personal challenges and rewards of being involved in such an operation.

Anna Greenham

Anna Greenham is an MSF doctor working in the Somali region of Ethiopia, where MSF has been delivering vital healthcare to communities, on and off, as necessary, and where possible, since the 1990’s. Anna and the teams provide healthcare and nutritional programs to a population struggling to survive amid numerous challenges, not least an ongoing conflict between government and rebel forces.

Eline Whist

Eline Whist is a doctor from Melbourne, Australia on her first mission with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Here, she describes her experiences working in a new MSF nutrition project in Burkina Faso in September 2007.

Insight

Treating malnutrition: We can do it, but where is the will to act?

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Malnutrition hotspots

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