Investing In Nutrition Programs, Fortifying Foods Could Help Address Childhood Stunting, Malnutrition Globally

New York Times: The World’s Malnourished Kids Don’t Need a $295 Burger
Nicholas Kristof, opinion columnist at the New York Times

“…[O]ne-quarter of all children worldwide … are stunted from malnutrition. … [I]n Guatemala, almost half of children are stunted. … The big problem with stunting from malnutrition isn’t that people are short but that they often have impaired brain development. … The implication is that billions of I.Q. points are lost to malnutrition, and that the world’s greatest unexploited resource is not oil or gold but the minds of hungry children. … Nutrition programs are extremely cheap. Often among the most cost-effective ways to fight global poverty. … Fortifying foods with iron, zinc, iodine, and vitamin A is transformative. Ensuring that children are screened for malnutrition and promptly helped with supplements that are similar to peanut butter is fairly straightforward. Yet malnourished children aren’t a priority, so kids are stunted in ways that will hold back our world for many decades to come…” (6/12).

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