Malnutrition in developing countries

Although uncommon in industrialized countries, malnutrition in children remains a scourge in many developing countries. It was estimated that, in 2012, 26% of the world's children were stunted and almost 3% were severely wasted. Forty-five percent of all deaths in children aged under 5 years were attributable to the simple fact that they were underweight. Malnutrition occurs most commonly in Southern Asia and sub Saharan Africa. The effective management of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is a huge challenge in low resource healthcare settings. More effective prevention and treatment of malnutrition is needed urgently.