Since 2020, the number of adolescent girls and pregnant and lactating women suffering from acute malnutrition has jumped by 25%. They are now 6.9 million to suffer from it in the 12 countries hardest hit by the global food and nutrition crisis*, warns UNICEF in a report.
“Progress on nutrition for adolescent girls and women is too slow and is at risk. More than a billion adolescent girls and women suffer from undernutrition, deficiencies in essential micronutrients and anemia,” UNICEF warns. Little progress has been made over the past 20 years, according to the report. The prevalence of underweight among adolescent girls remained at the same level (8%), that of women fell slightly (from 12 to 10%), as did the prevalence of anemia which remains at a high level (30%). %, compared to 31% in 2000).
Which regions are most affected?
Unsurprisingly, it is “the poorest regions” that are the most affected by undernutrition. South Asia is the most affected by the phenomenon: 32 million girls aged 10 to 19 (19%) and 82 million women aged 20 to 49 (22%) are underweight. 235 million women aged 15 to 49 suffer from anemia (49%). In Western Europe, these rates are respectively 1%, 2% and 13%.
How to explain this increase?
This increase is particularly linked to the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on livelihoods. According to UNICEF, four out of five pregnant and breastfeeding women in Eastern and Southern Africa were food insecure as a result of the pandemic.
The global nutrition crisis has also been “exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, as well as ongoing drought, conflict and instability in some” of these countries, notes UNICEF.
What consequences?
UNICEF speaks of the “long-term, even fatal consequences” of this malnutrition. In young women, this can lead to “weakened immune defenses, poor cognitive development and an increased risk of serious complications”. In pregnancy, “maternal undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and anemia increase the risk of stillbirth, neonatal death and preterm delivery, and harm fetal development, thus generating lasting effects on nutrition, children’s growth and learning, as well as their future ability to support themselves,” the organization adds in its report.
*Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Chad and Yemen.
