Hunger is Predictable and Preventable
Quick Fact Sheet
- Poverty, gender inequality, and climate change are primary causes of childhood hunger
- 733 million face childhood hunger daily
- Nearly 4 in 10 people can’t access or afford a healthy diet
- Every 15 seconds, a child dies from malnutrition’s deadly effects
- Women and girls make up 60% of the population who are chronically hungry
Hunger has long-lasting effects on a child’s cognitive development, educational outcomes, and overall physical health.
One in eleven people face hunger daily. Despite the fact that the world produces enough food to feed over 7.5 billion people, nearly 4 in 10 people can’t access or afford a healthy diet. The consequence is that every 15 seconds, a child dies from the effects of malnutrition.
Women and girls make up half the world’s population and spend about three times as many hours in unpaid care and domestic work as men, yet in parts of the world, like South Asia, men are more likely to receive adequate nutrition.
The World Food Programme reports that anemia affects 40% of pregnant women worldwide, a condition largely due to inadequate nutrition. In Bangladesh alone, 30% of pregnant mothers are chronically undernourished. This situation is compounded by the fact that many Bangladeshi mothers were never taught proper child-rearing practices and often lack access to essential health services necessary for their children’s well-being.
Pregnant women, teenage mothers, and their babies become particularly vulnerable to malnutrition due to this gender inequality, which may lead to infant and young child deaths. While these societies have long-standing traditions that place men at the center of family life, they can contributes to widespread childhood hunger and malnutrition among girls. Consequently, women and girls make up 60% of the population who are chronically hungry. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, if women had equal access to resources as men, it could potentially reduce the rate of hunger for 150 million children.
Poverty is another leading cause of childhood hunger across regions like Bangladesh and the Philippines.
In Bangladesh, nearly 32% of the population live below the national poverty line, which leads to more than 600,00 children experiencing malnutrition. Poverty, hunger, and malnutrition go hand in hand, leading to physical impairments such as stunted growth. In Bangladesh, 36% of children younger than five suffer from stunting due to chronic malnutrition, and nearly one-third of those affected children are girls. Other South Asian regions, like the Philippines, are not left out. 42% of children from the poorest households in the Philippines are stunted, and 29% of Filipino children between the ages of 0 and 5 experienced stunting due to undernutrition.
Much like the poverty-hunger-malnutrition cycle, climate change significantly contributes to childhood hunger, particularly in vulnerable countries like Bangladesh and the Philippines. According to the World Bank, extreme climate conditions tend to affect the poorest regions of the world the most.
In both Bangladesh and the Philippines, agriculture is a critical source of food and livelihood. However, climate change has led to natural disasters that flood farms, leading to soil degradation that severely impacts agricultural yield. An article from Relief Web estimates that climate change is on track to reduce crop yields by 50%.
Increased salinity of soil levels in these regions also makes it difficult for farmers to grow staple crops like rice. As a result, food production declines, driving up prices and limiting access to nutritious food, particularly for poor families. This directly contributes to higher rates of childhood hunger and malnutrition.
In the Philippines, climate-related disasters often force families to sell assets or take on debt to survive, further entrenching poverty and reducing their ability to afford nutritious food for their children.
While the root causes of hunger are complex and multifaceted, we can prevent millions of children from falling into even deeper levels of hunger. Childhood hunger is preventable and treatable.
Thrive combats childhood hunger with daily school feedings. By addressing hunger at its root, Thrive empowers all children—boys and girls—to realize their full potential physically and academically.
