18.9 percent children in Maldives are undernourished: UNICEF

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNCEF) has said that in 2009, 18.9 percent of children below the age of five were undernourished and stunted (low height-to-age ratio) in the Maldives.

This was stated in UNICEF’s report entitled “Situation of Children in the Republic of Maldives”, launched on Thursday.

The report states that children’s nutrition improved over a period of ten years, but undernourishment levels were below acceptable standards even in 2009.

Moreover, the report revealed that 61,000 children live in poverty - that is, live on less than MVR 44 per day - in the Maldives.

The reason behind this, according to UNICEF, is that 51 percent of the Maldivian population lived in poverty in 2009.

The report was launched by Minister of Health Dr Mariyam Shakeela and UNICEF Regional Director South Asia Karin Hulshof, at a ceremony held at STELCO Building on Thursday.