People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria
World Health Organization(WHO): Infant and Child Nutrition
The only way for a child to grow and develop property is for them to consume the proper amount of nutrients. According to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) data on child nutrition, around 15,000 children under five die of malnutrition per day, for a total of around 5.4 million children per year. The cause of this malnutrition could be due to any number of reasons, the most prevalent of which is poverty. Countries that are less developed economically have higher rates of child malnutrition. Low malnutrition rates indicate the overall health of a country. Solving the problem of high child mortality rates is vital to ensuring the health and prosperity of our country.
In Algeria, malnutrition is most common in the south, specifically in rural areas, where the population density is lower and high poverty causes reduced access to healthcare. Feeding practices are also rather inadequate, as many kids are exclusively bottle-fed instead of breast-fed. There is also a 39% rate of anemia amongst children under five, likely due to poorly diversified diets. Despite these statistics, our rates as compared to the average among other developing countries is father good. 12.9% of our children under five are overweight, where the average is 25%. As for underweight, our percentage of 4.1% is slightly less than half of the developing country average of 8.9%. Since 2000, rates for low birth weight has reduced from 7.7% to 7.3%
In 2018, United Nations envoy for the Western Sahara, Horst Kohler, invited Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania for a roundtable discussion on the nutrition and various other humanitarian problems in the Tindouf refugee camps. This formed the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
In a committee, we believe the focus should begin with government-sponsored nutrition programs for those who cannot afford nutritious food. The addition of education on nutrition to the school curriculum is another essential step. Beginning in primary school, kids nationwide should be educated on how to diversify and improve their eating habits and nutrition. As a more general subject, focus on ways in which poverty may be lessened would benefit nutrition(and more) in the long run, allowing more access to healthier and more nutritious food options.
- Paityn Reens
