A woman holds her malnourished granddaughter in this file photo taken in Mumbai July 25, 2007.REUTERS/Sima Dubey

NEW DELHI (AlertNet) – South Asian nations must promote breastfeeding and focus on better nutrition for under two-year-olds in order to reverse the worst rates of chronically undernourished children in the world, the U.N. said on Wednesday.

According to a new report by the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF), more than half of the world’s 155 million chronically undernourished under fives are in South Asia.

The report, “Improving Child and Maternal Nutrition”, said Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan topped the list with 83 million children being fed enough or poorly fed in those five countries.

Daniel Toole, regional director for UNICEF South Asia, said in an interview traditional beliefs and practices as well as the shortage of protein-rich food for infants were mostly to blame.

“Low birth weight babies from young mothers who are forced into early marriages, women who do not exclusively breastfeed and a poor choice of food given to children from the age of six months are all factors,” said Toole by phone from Kathmandu.

Infants are often given contaminated water as a supplement to breast milk or have it mixed in their food, say experts, making them more susceptible to illnesses like diarrhoea which prevents the absorption of nutrients.

According to the report, more than 40 percent of children from each of the five countries in South Asia show signs of nutritional deficiencies such as stunting, which is linked to child mortality and chronic disease in adult life.

Toole said most South Asian governments had good nutrition policies in place, but these had not filtered down to the grassroots level.

Concerts and Art Auction in New York City for India’s Neediest Children

In one of the poorest parts of India, there’s a school that provides an education, meals and perhaps the only encouragement 220 students have ever had. Along with coursework, the school provides medical care, clothing, and food—often the children’s only meal of the day. It’s a school that will make the difference between aspiring to be doctors, lawyers and statesmen, or starvation, prostitution and early death. It’s immensely important to the fragile welfare of local children, and is entirely dependent on charitable contributions to survive.

The first concert and silent art auction is on
Saturday June 7th
the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music
58 Seventh Avenue in Park Slope
at 7:00 p.m.

The second concert and silent art auction is on
Friday June 13th
the Society of Illustrators
128 East 63rd Street
at 7:00 p.m.

Performers include a mix of world, jazz, rock, and contemporary classical musicians, including such New York luminaries as Margaret Leng Tan, Hui Cox, Beth Levin, Stephanie Griffin, Christine Perea, Ana Milosavlevic, Ben Robison, Katie Down, Judy Tint, Bob Lampell, Masha Lankovsky, Uli Geissendoerfer, Ben Yarmolinsky, Ivan Rubenstein-Gillis, Brian Thompson, Julieanne Klein, Emily Howard, and others.

Artists include Joe Ciardiello, Bruce Waldman, Betsy & Ted Lewin, Michael Sloan, Rebecca Allen, Sara Varon, Jacqui Morgan, Frances Jetter, Joan Chiverton, Al Pels, Paul Jervis, Laura McCallum, Elizabeth Jordan, Margaret Noel, Jim Spanfeller and many more.

Tickets are $20. To reserve tickets, or if you’d like to donate art or perform,
email buddhabenefit@yahoo.com.

If you can’t attend, but want to make a tax-deductible donation, click here and specify that your donation is for Buddha’s Smile School. Every penny donated through Amistad goes to Buddha’s Smile School (with the exception of fees Amistad must pay for credit card donations, so please donate by check if possible).

Amistad International website | Link