Children face hunger crisis in Venezuela as malnutrition soars

Child malnutrition in parts of Venezuela is now at the level of a humanitarian crisis in some areas, warns a new report from the local Caritas agency. With the economy in freefall, shortages of food and medicine and soaring food prices, half of under-fives in areas monitored by Caritas are suffering from some degree of malnutrition or at imminent risk.

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Caritas has been surveying child malnutrition across four states including the capital Caracas. The latest figures show that 11.4 percent of children under five are suffering either from moderate or severe acute malnutrition. The World Health Organisation’s threshold for child malnutrition is 10 percent, leading Caritas to declare a state of crisis in those parishes.

Caritas has been monitoring levels of malnutrition and providing assistance to under-5s since October across four states: Distrito Capital, Vargas, Miranda and Zulia.

“We are extremely worried, which is why we are going public with this series of reports. We have been monitoring levels of malnutrition and providing assistance to under-fives since October. Our results clearly show that general levels of malnutrition are rising and acute malnutrition in children has crossed the crisis threshold. If we don’t respond soon, it will become very difficult for these children ever to get back onto their nutritional growth curve,” Janeth Márquez, director of Caritas Venezuela.

For the most vulnerable children, Caritas distributes kits containing specialist food supplements, especially protein and minerals such as iron. Medicines are also offered to the most at-risk people, who have to be strictly prioritised given the difficulty of obtaining medical supplies.

Over eight in ten households across 31 parishes surveyed in the Caritas report are eating less than before, and nearly six out of ten say that some family members are going without food so that another person in the family can eat – typically mothers giving their own food to their children.

The Caritas report has been issued to urge the national and international community to intervene in the crisis, concluding that direct food relief including nutritional supplements is critical as is the restoring of adequate facilities for healthcare, clean water, and sanitation.

“The response to the food crisis must be a social and economic priority, taking the politics out of protecting the most vulnerable people and facilitating the relief work of all those who, Source: IOM. Read full article.
16 May, 2017officially or unofficially, have direct contact with those most in need throughout the country,” as Caritas report concludes.