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Malnutrition affects first and foremost children under the age of two, but young children less than five years of age, adolescents, pregnant or lactating mothers, the elderly and the chronically ill (including those with HIV/AIDS and TB) are also vulnerable. Children are especially susceptible to growth failure when foods have to be introduced to complement breastfeeding in the first and second years of life. Wasting and other forms of acute malnutrition often appear among children in seasonal cycles, especially during the "hunger gap" period between harvests.
"When children suffer from acute malnutrition, their immune systems are so impaired that the risks of mortality are greatly increased. A banal children's disease such as a respiratory infection or gastro-enteritis can very quickly led to complications in a malnourished child and the risks of death are high ", says Dr. Susan Shepherd, Médecins Sans Frontières Medical Coordinator for the nutritional program in Maradi, Niger.
In developing countries 146 million children under the age of five are underweight, as defined by weight for age (one in four children). Sixty million children under the age of five are wasted (almost one in ten children).
South Asia, the Sahel and the Horn of Africa are the most alarming hotspots for child malnutrition and mortality. Half of the deaths in children under five in developing countries occur in these regions.