Undernutrition kills 3.5 million children a year: researchers

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2008

PARIS (AFP) — Undernutrition is to blame for 3.5 million deaths among children aged under five each year, but most of the fatalities occur in 20 countries, where targeted aid programmes could swiftly address the problem, researchers say.

Most of the deaths are inflicted indirectly by stunting and poor resistance to disease, and two of the biggest culprits are lack of vitamin A and zinc during the mother's pregnancy and the child's first two years of life, they say.

Mortality from undernutrition accounts for more than a third of child deaths worldwide, they add.

The five studies are published online Thursday by the British health journal The Lancet.

The one-off series also puts the spotlight on 20 countries where 80 percent of the world's...