A Child Dies of Hunger Every Six Seconds

A Child Dies of Hunger Every Six Seconds
Lets consider some statistical facts that must be taken into account: A child, less than 5 years old, dies of hunger every 6 seconds.
About 30 children die every 3 minutes from impoverishment. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), a total of 6 million children, who are less than 5 years old, suffer from malnutrition worldwide.

More than 180 million children, less than 10 years old, suffer of hunger due to the lack of food. About 177 million children experience delayed development and about 8 million of newborns die each year due to the mother’s poor health conditions during pregnancy. Other causes are the mother’s nutrient-deficient nourishment, the lack of safety standards during childbirth, and negligence when caring for the baby. These conditions are present in countries where about 15 million teenage girls, between the ages of 15 and 19, give birth at an annual rate.

These statistics indicate that the world is far from reaching the goals established at FAO’s World Food Summit of 1996: halve the total of homeless children by 2015. Where nourishment is difficult, a child has an average life expectancy of 38, while in 24 of the world’s wealthiest countries the average increases to 70.

It is estimated that 1 out of 7 children born in the world’s poorest countries is sentenced to die before reaching the age of 5. A year estimates about 250,000 children. Most of these children die due to the lack of food and essential nutrients, which weakens them and reduces their weight thus making them more vulnerable. Moreover, these children are exposed to a high risk of catching infectious diseases. In developing countries, diarrhea, acute respiratory diseases, malaria and measles are among the main causes of child death.

This distressing burden of grief and death occurs in Latin America and the Caribbean.
St. Augustine of Hippo believed that a poor man’s patrimony is what is left over by the rich man (Translated by Gianna A. Sanchez Moretti).
Author and journalist Clemente Ferrer has led a distinguished career in Spain in the fields of publicity and press relations. He is currently President of the European Institute of Marketing.
clementeferrer3@gmail.com