The Guardian – Saul Morris
“My friend’s son – let’s call him Mark – proudly shows me the latest line on the door frame of his room, where his height has been recorded since he was two. He is now 120cm tall, and is really excited about it. Every new level recorded on the door over the last couple of years seems to capture a world of potential future achievements. Clearly, he is going to be able to reach for the stars by just lifting himself up on tiptoe. The gradual reduction of malnutrition in some of the world’s poorest countries is equally exhilarating. Since the last Universal Children’s Day in November 2014, many countries have recorded impressive reductions in the proportion of children affected by stunting, the kind of poor growth which results in children being too short for their age. In Ghana, the latest national survey showed that just 19% of children under five are now stunted, compared to 35% eleven years previously. In India, the government’s latest Rapid Survey on Children found just 39% of children stunted, compared to 48% eight years earlier. The size of India makes this change truly momentous.”(more)