Hunger

Nearly one third of children in developing countries are stunted or underweight. The cause? Malnutrition.


Louali Allasanin, an acutely malnourished 6-month boy in Niger, having his Middle Upper Arm Circumference measured, in the arms of his grandmother Aicha. Chronic malnutrition - a silent emergency

Around 58 million children suffer from acute malnutrition in emergencies. But many more suffer from a 'silent emergency' - chronic malnutrition. Day after day, these children don't get enough to eat. They don't grow as tall as other children. They get ill more often, their mental development may be impaired and they are likely to die younger.

There is a window of opportunity for helping these children. But it is short-lived. The critical period begins when the baby is in the womb and lasts until the child's second birthday. During this period, the effects of malnutrition can be reversed. After that, the child will never catch up on what he or she has missed in terms of growth and development.

Frances Seth, a Save the Children volunteer, recently visited Save the Children feeding centres in the Zinder region of southern Niger. Watch a clip of Frances' trip to Niger.

A family in Bangladesh harvesting a potato crop. Bangladesh has the fourth highest number of stunted/chronically malnourished under-fives in the world.Avoiding crises and helping recovery

In the 1980s we developed a ground-breaking approach to predicting food shortages and preventing malnutrition. In 2005 and 2006, 23 million people in African countries received emergency aid after assessments were carried out using our Household Economy Approach. More than half of them were children.

Cash in hand

Paying cash payments to families - cash transfers - is a core part of our work to reduce malnutrition. Compared to food aid, cash is more flexible for families and gives them choice. For example, following research in Tanzania, we found cash transfers to very poor households to be an effective way of tackling severe poverty.

A mother breastfeeding her child. Breastfeeding is unparalleled in providing the ideal food for an infant.Breastfeeding saves lives

Breastfeeding (PDF 125KB) provides the ideal food for babies. But many mothers don't do it. We could save the lives of 3,800 children a day by improving breastfeeding rates. Our programmes promote the benefits of breastfeeding to mothers, health workers and communities. And we campaign against the marketing of substitute baby milk.

Feeding children in an emergency

In any emergency where people are short of food, children are most at risk from malnutrition. Children lose weight quickly and, unless there is a quick response from aid agencies and charities, become malnourished. In Niger, we saved thousands of children's lives following the nutrition crisis in 2005. Our feeding programme treated more than 40,000 acutely malnourished children.

Using our influence

Building on our practical experience and knowledge, we influence national governments and international donors such as the UK government, the European Commission, the World Bank and the UN's World Food Programme. We aim to ensure that the best approaches to tackling child malnutrition are used in large-scale projects.

Find out more about our work in this area read our publications and policy news.