An additional 6.7
million children under the age of five could suffer from wasting – and
therefore become dangerously undernourished – in 2020 as a result of the
socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF warned today.
According to an
analysis published in The Lancet, 80 per cent of these children would be from
sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Over half would be from South Asia alone.
“It’s been seven
months since the first COVID-19 cases were reported and it is increasingly
clear that the repercussions of the pandemic are causing more harm to children
than the disease itself,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.
“Household poverty and food insecurity rates have increased. Essential
nutrition services and supply chains have been disrupted. Food prices have
soared. As a result, the quality of children’s diets has gone down and
malnutrition rates will go up.”
Wasting is a
life-threatening form of malnutrition, which makes children too thin and weak,
and puts them at greater risk of dying, poor growth, development and learning.
According to UNICEF, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, 47 million children
were already wasted in 2019. Without urgent action, the global number of
children suffering from wasting could reach almost 54 million over the course
of the year. This would bring global wasting to levels not seen this
millennium.
The Lancet analysis
finds that the prevalence of wasting among children under the age of five could
increase by 14.3 per cent in low- and middle-income countries this year, due to
the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19. Such an increase in child malnutrition
would translate into over 10,000 additional child deaths per month with over 50
per cent of these deaths in sub-Saharan Africa.
The estimated
increase in child wasting is only the tip of the iceberg, UN agencies
warn. COVID-19 will also increase other
forms of malnutrition in children and women, including stunting, micronutrient
deficiencies and overweight and obesity as a result of poorer diets and the
disruption of nutrition services. UNICEF reports from the early months of the
pandemic suggest a 30 per cent overall reduction in the coverage of essential –
and often life-saving – nutrition services. In some countries, these disruptions
have reached 75 per cent to 100 per cent under lockdown measures. For example,
in Afghanistan and Haiti, fear of infection and lack of protective equipment
for health workers has led to an estimated 40 per cent and 73 per cent decline,
respectively, in admissions to treat severe wasting in children. In Kenya,
admissions dropped by 40 per cent. Over 250 million children globally are
missing the full benefits of vitamin A supplementation due to COVID-19.
When the projected
increase in wasting in each country is combined with a projected year average
of 25 per cent reduction in nutrition services, there could be 128,605
additional deaths in children under the age of five over the year, according to
the analysis. The range reflects scenarios using a low of 15 per cent and a
high of 50 per cent disruption in vitamin A supplementation, the treatment of
severe wasting, the promotion of improved young child feeding, and the
provision of micronutrient supplements to pregnant women.
In a commentary to
The Lancet report, also released today, the heads of UNICEF, the Food and
Agriculture Organization, the World Food Programme and the World Health
Organization warned that the COVID-19 pandemic is undermining nutrition across
the world particularly in low- and middle-income countries, with the worst
consequences being borne by young children. More children and women are
becoming malnourished due to the deteriorating quality of their diets, the
interruption of nutrition services, and the shocks created by the pandemic.
Humanitarian agencies
immediately need USD $2.4 billion to protect maternal and child nutrition in
the most vulnerable countries from now until the end of the year. The heads of
the four United Nations agencies appeal to governments, the public, donors and
the private sector to protect children’s right to nutrition by:
Safeguarding access
to nutritious, safe and affordable diets as a cornerstone of the response to
COVID-19 by protecting food producers, processors and retailers; discouraging
trade bans; and designating food markets as essential services;
Investing decisively
in support for maternal and child nutrition by protecting breastfeeding,
preventing the inappropriate marketing of infant formula, and securing children
and women’s access to nutritious and diverse foods;
Re-activating and
scaling up services for the early detection and treatment of child wasting
while expanding other life-protecting nutrition services;
Maintaining the
provision of nutritious and safe school meals by reaching vulnerable children
through home delivery, take-home rations, cash or vouchers when schools are
closed; and
Expanding social
protection to safeguard access to nutritious diets and essential services among
the poorest and most affected households, including access to fortified foods.
UNICEF’s Reimagine
campaign aims to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from becoming a lasting crisis
for children, especially the most vulnerable children. Through the campaign,
UNICEF is issuing an urgent appeal to parents, governments, the public, donors
and the private sector to join UNICEF as we seek to respond, recover and
reimagine a world currently besieged by the coronavirus:
Respond.
We must act now to stop the disease from spreading, help the sick, and protect
first responders on the frontlines risking their own lives to save others.
Recover.
Even when the pandemic slows, each country will have to continue to work to
mitigate the knock-on effects on children, and address the damage inflicted.
Communities will also have to work together, and across borders to rebuild and
prevent a return of the disease.
Reimagine.
If we have learned anything from COVID-19, it’s that our systems and policies
must protect people, all the time, not just in the event of a crisis. As the
world recovers from the pandemic, now is the time to lay the groundwork for
building back better.
“We cannot allow
children to be the overlooked victims of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Fore. “We
must simultaneously think both short and long term, so that we not only address
the challenges posed by the pandemic and its secondary impacts on children, but
also chart a brighter future for children and young people.”
Credit:UNICEF