Stunting problem in kids
Photo: Mumit M.
From the The Daily Star report of 8 April 2012, we have learnt that malnutrition is the root cause of stunted growth in kids. Statistics say that Bangladesh is in the list of top ten countries with the large number of underweight children. Specialists say that stunted kids do not die but suffer a different fate. Stunting is associated with impaired brain development. A typical stunted brain has fewer cells. The cells themselves are somewhat smaller, and the interaction between them is more limited. It means that stunting seriously affects the intellect of children and also their productivity. Most of the children suffer irreversible damage due to this by age two, long before they begin to go to primary schools. In this regard, the UNICEF on 2009 pinpointed the first 1,000 days of a person's life as the key period in which to tackle stunting problem. Anyway, as the root cause of stunting is malnutrition so eradication of malnutrition comes first as the remedy. Poverty, hunger, high food price, household nutrition insecurity, lack of knowledge about sanitation and hygiene and inadequate dietary intake etc. are closely related to this issue. However, we have learnt that no government initiative has been taken till now focusing on stunting. So we hope that the government will take a scheme soon jointly with countries, organisations and personalities in this regard.
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