Johannesburg - The climate crisis, the loss of biodiversity and pollution are pushing more children into hunger, says a new Unicef report outlining how "alarmingly" high numbers of children are suffering the consequences of poor diets and a food system that is failing them.
The State of the World's Children 2019: Children, Food and Nutrition report, released ahead of World Food Day on Wednesday, finds that climate change, urbanisation and globalisation are “profoundly altering how and what children eat”.
Unicef said at least one in three children under five, or 200 million, is either undernourished or overweight.
“Almost two in three children between six months and two years are not fed food that supports their rapidly growing bodies and brains. This puts them at risk of poor brain development, weak learning, low immunity, increased infections and, in many cases, death,” states the report.
South Africa, said the report, is faced with the burden of malnutrition, under-nutrition, hidden hunger and overweight. The last report of its kind was done by Unicef 20 years ago.
“We've changed where we live: more and more families have left the countryside and have moved to cities, a global shift that will only grow in the years to come. The conditions of life on our planet have changed.
"The crisis of climate change, the loss of biodiversity and the damage done to water, air and soil, now raise concerns over whether we can feed this generation of children sustainably, never mind the generations to come.
“Finally, we have changed what we eat. We are leaving behind traditional and indigenous diets and embracing modern diets frequently high in sugars and fats, low in essential nutrients and fibre, and often highly processed.”
This is the backdrop to children's malnutrition today, said the report. “A word once inextricably linked in the public’s mind with images of hunger and famine, malnutrition must now be used to describe a much broader swathe of children - children with stunting and wasting, but also those suffering from the hidden hunger of deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals, as well as the growing numbers of children and young people who are overweight or obese.”
Children disproportionately suffer the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation. “In the immediate aftermath of a flood or typhoon, for example, children are the most at-risk group for water-borne diseases, such as those accompanied by diarrhoea, and which heighten their risks of malnutrition and death.”
The cumulative effects of prolonged or recurrent climate-related disasters and variability are often passed to the next generation of children, deepening cycles of intergenerational inequality.
Floods, storms, drought and extreme heat around the world have collectively doubled in number since 1990 - resulting in an increase of 11% of people facing food insecurity since 2016. “Climate-related disasters cause severe food crises: drought is responsible for 80% of damage and losses in agriculture, dramatically altering what food is available to children and families, as well as its quality and price."
Industrial food production plays a major role in the environmental effects of climate change and environmental degradation because of its “tremendous” ecological footprint and contribution to emissions and pollution.
The heavy use of fresh water, fertilisers and pesticides also presents risks to children's nutrition and well-being.
Food production is also implicated in the loss of biodiversity. “A recent UN report sounded the alarm on the scale of the problem: nearly one million species are threatened with extinction from human activities."
Biodiversity is not only essential for healthy ecosystems, it directly affects food security. “Children's dietary diversity is also at stake. With less diversity in crop production, diets are becoming increasingly homogeneous around the world. Just three crops - rice, wheat and maize - now make up nearly two-thirds of the global caloric intake.
"Without improvements to today's dietary patterns and food production, children, their families and future generations are likely to face greater risk of food insecurity and malnutrition brought.”
Robust interventions are needed to cut the environmental impact of food production and consumption, including greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel use, pesticide use and fertiliser run-off.
Saturday Star