The 2010 Global Hunger Index report was released today by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). (20) It notes that, in recent years, experts have come to the conclusion that undernourishment between conception and a child's second birthday can have serious and long-lasting impacts.
Undernourishment during this approximately 1,000-day window can seriously check the growth and development of children and render them more likely to get sick and die than well-fed children. (20) Preventing hunger allows children to develop both physically and mentally.
Says IFPRI's Marie Ruel,"They will be more likely to perform well in school. They will stay in school longer. (21) And then at adulthood, IFPRI has actually demonstrated that children who were better nourished have higher wages, by a pretty large margin, by 46 percent."
Ruel says that means the productivity of a nation's future generations depends in a large part on the first 1,000 days of life.
"This is why we're all on board in focusing on those thousand days to improve nutrition. After that, the damage is done and is highly irreversible."
The data on nutrition and childhood development has been slowly coming together for decades. But Ruel says scientific consensus alone will not solve the problem.
"It's not enough that nutritionists know you have to intervene then, if we don't have the politicians on board, and also the... people that implement the programs in the field."
Ruel says there are encouraging signs that politicians and implementers are beginning to get on board. Many major donors and the United Nations are targeting hunger-relief programs at pregnant women and young children. They focus on improving diets or providing micro-food supplements. They improve access to pre-birth care and encourage exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a child's life.
(22) Ruel says in the 1980s Thailand was able to reduce child undernourishment by recruiting a large number of volunteers to travel the countryside teaching about health and nutrition.
"They really did very active promotion of diversity in the diet and good eating habits. So they were providing more food to people, but also educating people on how to use them, and also educating people on how to feed their young children."
Ruel says countries may take different approaches to reducing child undernutrition. But she says nations will not make progress fighting hunger and poverty until they begin to focus on those critical first thousand days.
20. What is the experts' conclusion regarding children's undernourishment in their earliest days of life?
21. What does IFPRI's Marie Ruel say about well-fed children in their adult life?
22. What did Thailand do to reduce child undernourishment in the 1980s?
国际粮食政策研究所(IFPRI)今日发布了2010年全球饥饿指数报告
。报告显示,近年来专家得出结论:从怀孕到婴儿两岁之间的营养不良可能导致严重而长期的影响 。在这将近1000天的时间内的营养不良可能会严重限制儿童的生长发育,而且这些儿童的生病和死亡率也比营养充足的儿童高
。预防饥饿能使孩子的身体和心智更好地生长和发育 。国际粮食政策研究所玛丽·鲁埃尔说,“他们在学校里表现可能更好,上学的时间可能也更长
。事实上,国际粮食政策研究的报告还表明,成年后,营养更好的孩子有着相对更高的薪水,而且领先优势比较明显,有46%之多 。”鲁埃尔说,这就意味着一个国家年轻一代人的生产力在很大程度上取决于他们生命最开始的1000天 。“这就是为什么我们将重点放在这1000天内的营养改善
。过了这段时间,问题已经形成,想要补救难度极高 。”这些关于营养和儿童发育问题的资料是经过几十年慢慢收集起来的
。但是鲁埃尔说单单是科学方面达成共识根本解决不了问题 。“只是营养学家知道应该在这一时期进行干预是不够的,还需要有政府和该领域内对相关项目有实施权的人士的支持
。”鲁埃尔说现在已经可以看到政治家和实施者参与进来的积极信号了
。很多大的慈善机构以及联合国目前已经开始将消除饥饿项目的对象锁定到了孕妇和幼年儿童身上 。它们将重点放在改善饮食和提供微量食品食品添加剂 。它们改善孕妇产前营养,鼓励在婴儿出生前六个月纯母乳喂养 。鲁埃尔说20世纪80年代,泰国招收大量的志愿者到乡下去讲授关于健康和营养的知识,降低了儿童营养不良的几率
。“他们真的对健康饮食和良好的饮食习惯进行了很积极多样的宣传 。他们为人们提供了食物,还教给人们如何食用这些食物及如何安排他们孩子的饮食 。”鲁埃尔说每个国家为减少儿童营养不良现象采取的方式可能不同
20.关于儿童初生期营养不良专家得出了什么结论?
21.国际粮食政策研究所玛丽·鲁埃尔说营养充足的孩子成年后的生活如何?
22.20世纪80年代的泰国为降低儿童营养不良的几率做了什么?
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