I-HEART | Access to Food

Access to Food

We would be called ‘malnourished’ or ‘undernourished’ if we don’t have enough of the right foods to grow and maintain our body’s health … to learn, work or recover from disease.

… 852 million people worldwide are estimated to be undernourished.

Every year, there are almost 10 million deaths of children under 5 due to poverty and malnutrition. That’s more than the entire population of Sweden.

Right now, a further 150 million children in the developing world are malnourished and another 175 million are stunted in height due to poor diet and illness.

Whether due to environmental, agricultural, trade or sustainability issues, undernourishment can lead to “stunting,” “wasting” and in some cases brain damage… When other nutrition related risk factors are included, the annual death toll is equivalent to a disaster killing or disabling the entire population of a country larger than the USA.

This happens throughout the developing world…

More than 40% of all children under 5 in South Asia are underweight. South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa have the highest levels of under nutrition in the world.

Malnourished children are frequently drawn to human traffickers, gangs and military groups as child soldiers through the promise of food and shelter. Children are unable to attend schooling because of their need to work for food for their families and are then exploited through child labour.

Families sell children into slavery, to bonded child labour in factories or into prostitution, all because they need money for food... But does it have to be this way?

Why can’t everyone have enough to eat? Where are those of us that are willing to do something to help...?