UNICEF issued a warning on Monday, stating that in 12 countries at the forefront of the global food crisis, the prevalence of acute malnutrition has increased by 25% among pregnant women and nursing mothers since 2020. This alarming trend has deleterious effects on the well-being of their offspring, as emphasized by the organization.
Based on an analysis of data about underweight and anemia in nearly every country, the report estimates that over one billion women and adolescent girls worldwide are afflicted with undernourishment. This condition manifests in the form of low body weight and stunted growth, deficiencies in critical micronutrients, and anemia. A large majority of these individuals are concentrated in the most economically disadvantaged regions of the world.
Thus, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa concentrate 68% of women and adolescent girls who are underweight and 60% of those suffering from anemia.
UNICEF underscores that the nutritional inadequacies experienced by women have a significant bearing on their health and welfare, as well as that of their offspring. The organization highlights that there exists a transgenerational transmission of poor nutrition, whereby children of undernourished mothers are also at risk of enduring similar deficiencies.
Malnutrition increases the risk of neonatal mortality but also harms “fetal development, generating lasting effects on children’s nutrition, growth and learning, as well as their future ability to support themselves”.
“Stunting affects 51 million children under the age of 2 globally. We estimate that almost half of the cases occur during pregnancy and the first six months of life when a child’s nutrition is entirely dependent on its mother,” says the report, which pays particular attention to pregnant and lactating women.
It thus estimates that between 2020 and 2022, the number of pregnant or breastfeeding women suffering from acute malnutrition increased by 25%, from 5.5 to 6.9 million, in 12 countries in food crisis (Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, and Yemen).