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Headlines: 1) Acute malnutrition in south/central Iraq 10 per cent. 2) 800,000 chronically malnourished children in south/central Iraq. Dear Yousef The National Coordinating Meeting asked me to extract child malnutrition statistics from the recently published report on health and nutrition from the UN agencies Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP). The full report can be found at: http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/ECONOMIC/ESN/IRAQ.PDF 1) Acute malnutrition The FAO/WFP says 'Wasting in under five-year-olds is unacceptably high at around 10 per cent.' Wasting being acute malnutrition. 2) Chronic malnutrition It says, '...at least about 800,000 children under the age of five are chronically malnourished.' This refers to low height for age or 'stunting'. Some improvement in chronic malnutrition in Baghdad (from 28 to 12 per cent compared to 1995)and Kerbala (39.3 per cent in 1996, now 18 per cent), but deterioration in Diala (up from 20.6 per cent in 1996 to 27 per cent this May). 3) Quote: 'A household nutritional survey was conducted by the Nutrition Research Institute, Ministry of Health and [FAO/WFP] Mission staff from May 7-16, 2000... Results indicate that the prevalence of wasting (low weight-for-height which reflects acute malnutrition) in children under five years of age continues at unacceptably high levels: over 10% for each of the three centre/south Governorates surveyed. There has been only a marginal decrease for these Governorates since the FAO/WFP assessment of 1995 and the 1996 Multiple Cluster Indicator Household Survey. The Baghdad result can be compared with the much lower prevalence of 3% in 1991 reported by the International Harvard Team.' 4) Adult obesity Incidentally, over half the adult population is obese, 'and may be due to several causes, including inappropriate diet, lack of physical activity and lifestyle. One factor may be the relatively high carbohydrate content of the [oil-for-food] rations which reaches all households at the expense of quality proteins and micronutrients. Physical activity of adults has been reduced due to unemployment and the adoption of sedentary lifestyles.' [Hans von Sponeck recently estimated unemployment at 60 to 70 per cent.] Mil Rai Voices in the Wilderness UK National Office Voices in the Wilderness UK 16B Cherwell St Oxford OX4 1BG 01865 243 232 voices@viwuk.freeserve.co.uk -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk Full details of CASI's various lists can be found on the CASI website: http://www.casi.org.uk