GAIN: High malnutrition in Bangladesh prevents children from becoming “tigers”
February 13, 2011
One week before the first match of the Cricket World Cup, co-hosted by Bangladesh, GAIN – the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition – called on Bangladeshi leaders to put nutrition higher on their agenda. “Bangladesh should build on local momentum to lead innovative partnerships to improve maternal and child nutrition” said Marc Van Ameringen, Executive Director of GAIN. “Without the proper nutrition in the first 1,000 days of life – from conception to two years old, children suffer from irreversible physical and mental setbacks later in life that prevent them from achieving their dreams, like joining The Tigers, Bangladesh National Cricket Team and becoming renowned cricket players”.
In Bangladesh, 43 percent of children under 5 years old are stunted (low height for age). Bangladeshi children also suffer from insufficient vitamin A, iron, iodine and zinc in their daily diets. One in five preschool age children are vitamin A deficient and one in two are anemic.
To highlight innovative efforts to fight malnutrition in Bangladesh, GAIN organized a discussion uniting representatives of government ministries, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, academia and business involved in the fight against maternal and child nutrition. The discussion showcased a locally-driven initiative, which is improving sustained access by marginalized populations to improved nutrition through an innovative public-private partnership harnessing markets and far-reaching distribution channels. Renata Ltd, a local pharmaceutical company, and the local NGO BRAC are working together to enable more than 50 percent of children in Bangladesh access the nutrition necessary for them to live to their full potential.