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19 PERCENT OF CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 5 IN ARMENIA SUFFER FROM STUNTED GROWTH
12:46, May 7, 2013
A four-day sub-regional workshop addressing the problem of stunting
among children under the age of five in Albania, Armenia and Georgia
started today in Yerevan.
Co-hosted by the Government of Armenia and UNICEF, the workshop brings
together stakeholders in the area of child nutrition from the three
countries to review national strategies and programmes, highlight
existing systemic gaps and re-energize the national commitment to
child rights and welfare.
"Health and nutrition are priority issues to ensure children's
well-being, and in that sense early years are very critical because
the risk of childhood diseases and mortality is quite high during
the first years of life," Deputy Minister of Health of Armenia Sergey
Khachatryan said in his opening remarks.
A new UNICEF Report Improving Child Nutrition: The achievable
imperative for global progress released last month offers evidence
that globally 165 million children under the age of five are suffering
from stunting or are too short for their age.
The Report also confirms that a key to success against stunting is
focusing attention on pregnancy and the first two years of a child's
life. Stunting in a child is not only about being too short for his
or her age. It can also mean suffering from stunted development of
the brain, cognitive and learning capacity in childhood, as well as
work productivity in adulthood.
Stunting in children under 5 years of age is a marker of lost
opportunity for a child's brain to develop to its full potential:
this is a critical period of brain development, when the consequences
of poor nutrition, reflected in low height for age, have irreversible
impact and cannot be corrected later in life.
"If a woman is malnourished during pregnancy, or if her child is
malnourished during the first two years of life, the child's physical
and mental growth and development may be slowed. That child will never
learn, nor earn later in life, as much as she or he could have if
properly nourished in early life," UNICEF Representative in Armenia
Henriette Ahrens said.
According to the recent data from the three countries, 19 per cent
of children under the age of five in Armenia, 16 per cent in Albania
and 11 per cent in Georgia suffer from stunted growth.
WHO international growth standards indicate that young children (under
the age of five) worldwide have the same capacity to reach their
height potential when pregnant women receive appropriate attention
for health and nutrition during pregnancy, and the children benefit
from optimal feeding practices and receive appropriate care. At
the same time, country-level statistics clearly shows that the most
disadvantaged children have much higher rates of stunting, indicating
that stunting in early childhood is a key marker of inequity and not
of genetic predisposition.
Stunting and other forms of undernutrition can be reduced through
a series of simple and proven steps during pregnancy and the first
two years of a child's life, globally referred to as "the first 1000
days of life". Proper nutritional interventions during these 1000
days are critical in improving fetal and child nutrition, growth,
and brain development. They provide an opportunity which does not
exist later in life: the reason why this period is also called "a
window of opportunity".
"We need to act during this critical time to ensure full growth and
development of children. Effective interventions applied worldwide
include improving pregnant women's nutrition and care as well as
prevention of childhood illnesses and appropriate feeding practices
during the first two years of life. Exclusive breastfeeding for
the first six months continued afterwards along with appropriate
complementary feeding with nutrient-rich foods and vitamin/mineral
supplements is the key to success, " Nune Mangasaryan, Senior Advisor
on Nutrition from UNICEF Headquarters in New York, emphasized.
Very often the poor nutrition is a result of lack of knowledge on
appropriate nutrition and care. It is equally important to work
on improvement of parenting skills since parents bear primary
responsibility for their children's well-being. Integrated support
to families especially those living in vulnerable communities should,
therefore, be the backbone of governmental programmes, in addition to
legislative and administrative interventions. In many cases, simple
information on maternal nutrition and child feeding and care can
play a crucial role in ensuring appropriate fetal and child growth
and development.
The sub-regional workshop will provide a ground for development of
long-term national action plans to reduce stunting among children
under the age of five in Albania, Armenia, and Georgia as well as
will agree on practical steps to be undertaken in the immediate future.
http://hetq.am/eng/news/26292/19-percent-of-children-under-the-age-of-5-in-armenia-suffer-from-stunted-growth.html
12:46, May 7, 2013
A four-day sub-regional workshop addressing the problem of stunting
among children under the age of five in Albania, Armenia and Georgia
started today in Yerevan.
Co-hosted by the Government of Armenia and UNICEF, the workshop brings
together stakeholders in the area of child nutrition from the three
countries to review national strategies and programmes, highlight
existing systemic gaps and re-energize the national commitment to
child rights and welfare.
"Health and nutrition are priority issues to ensure children's
well-being, and in that sense early years are very critical because
the risk of childhood diseases and mortality is quite high during
the first years of life," Deputy Minister of Health of Armenia Sergey
Khachatryan said in his opening remarks.
A new UNICEF Report Improving Child Nutrition: The achievable
imperative for global progress released last month offers evidence
that globally 165 million children under the age of five are suffering
from stunting or are too short for their age.
The Report also confirms that a key to success against stunting is
focusing attention on pregnancy and the first two years of a child's
life. Stunting in a child is not only about being too short for his
or her age. It can also mean suffering from stunted development of
the brain, cognitive and learning capacity in childhood, as well as
work productivity in adulthood.
Stunting in children under 5 years of age is a marker of lost
opportunity for a child's brain to develop to its full potential:
this is a critical period of brain development, when the consequences
of poor nutrition, reflected in low height for age, have irreversible
impact and cannot be corrected later in life.
"If a woman is malnourished during pregnancy, or if her child is
malnourished during the first two years of life, the child's physical
and mental growth and development may be slowed. That child will never
learn, nor earn later in life, as much as she or he could have if
properly nourished in early life," UNICEF Representative in Armenia
Henriette Ahrens said.
According to the recent data from the three countries, 19 per cent
of children under the age of five in Armenia, 16 per cent in Albania
and 11 per cent in Georgia suffer from stunted growth.
WHO international growth standards indicate that young children (under
the age of five) worldwide have the same capacity to reach their
height potential when pregnant women receive appropriate attention
for health and nutrition during pregnancy, and the children benefit
from optimal feeding practices and receive appropriate care. At
the same time, country-level statistics clearly shows that the most
disadvantaged children have much higher rates of stunting, indicating
that stunting in early childhood is a key marker of inequity and not
of genetic predisposition.
Stunting and other forms of undernutrition can be reduced through
a series of simple and proven steps during pregnancy and the first
two years of a child's life, globally referred to as "the first 1000
days of life". Proper nutritional interventions during these 1000
days are critical in improving fetal and child nutrition, growth,
and brain development. They provide an opportunity which does not
exist later in life: the reason why this period is also called "a
window of opportunity".
"We need to act during this critical time to ensure full growth and
development of children. Effective interventions applied worldwide
include improving pregnant women's nutrition and care as well as
prevention of childhood illnesses and appropriate feeding practices
during the first two years of life. Exclusive breastfeeding for
the first six months continued afterwards along with appropriate
complementary feeding with nutrient-rich foods and vitamin/mineral
supplements is the key to success, " Nune Mangasaryan, Senior Advisor
on Nutrition from UNICEF Headquarters in New York, emphasized.
Very often the poor nutrition is a result of lack of knowledge on
appropriate nutrition and care. It is equally important to work
on improvement of parenting skills since parents bear primary
responsibility for their children's well-being. Integrated support
to families especially those living in vulnerable communities should,
therefore, be the backbone of governmental programmes, in addition to
legislative and administrative interventions. In many cases, simple
information on maternal nutrition and child feeding and care can
play a crucial role in ensuring appropriate fetal and child growth
and development.
The sub-regional workshop will provide a ground for development of
long-term national action plans to reduce stunting among children
under the age of five in Albania, Armenia, and Georgia as well as
will agree on practical steps to be undertaken in the immediate future.
http://hetq.am/eng/news/26292/19-percent-of-children-under-the-age-of-5-in-armenia-suffer-from-stunted-growth.html