Double Burden of Malnutrition

According to the UNICEF-WHO-WB Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates, in 2020 across the
globe, 22% of all children aged lower than five years are stunted in growth while 13.6 million
children under five years of age are suffering from severe wasting. The mentioned statistics
allude to a worrisome prevalence of malnutrition. Malnutrition has many social determinants
such as maternal education, household income, age of less than five years, access to
healthcare, and residence. The first three mentioned determinants of malnutrition are the most
important.

It was known that children with mothers who are less educated, families with low incomes and
those who are aged under five years of age are predisposed to stunting. Moreover, the outbreak
of the COVID-19 pandemic had a lasting impact on childhood malnutrition because border
closures, trade restrictions, and total lockdown had an enduring negative influence on the entire
food chain. Many parents and breadwinners lost their jobs due to widespread retrenchment
during the pandemic making them unable to provide for their children’s needs and one of them
is good nutrition. Despite the efforts of the government and NGOs, winning the battle against
malnutrition and poverty seems quite to be farfetched and it will most likely take more years or
even decades to resolve this widespread dilemma that’s been plaguing us for hundreds of
years.

However, it’s a good thing many organizations are willing to reach out to poverty-stricken
communities to battle the war against hunger. These organizations, such as Action Against
Hunger, World Food Programme, and Feed the Children, have been working tirelessly with the
people and the government to defeat malnutrition for years now. Action Against Hunger helps
Filipinos suffering from poverty to ameliorate different situations in their daily lives that might
have been contributing to their deprivation of resources. One important initiative of the World
Food Programme is the Fill the Nutrient Gap project which is aimed to solve the problem of
stunting children in the Philippines. Last but not least, Feed the Children aims to battle
malnutrition in children by utilizing Child-Focused Community Development or CFCD which
assists children to overcome long-term and short-term malnutrition.

As a take-home message, the battle against malnutrition should not be short-sighted because
nutritional improvement is a public good and a collective obligation. Next, food systems that are
sustainable, equitable, and resilient are essential for optimum nutrition because our food
systems are all interconnected be it locally or globally. Lastly, malnutrition is a worldwide issue
that necessitates international as well as local remedies.