NGER A LIFE FREE FROM HUNGER - Save the Children

a life free from hunger
MALNUTRITION IS A SILENT KILLER – UNDER-REPORTED,
UNDER-ADDRESSED AND, AS A RESULT, UNDER-PRIORITISED.
THE ECONOMIC CASE FOR TACKLING MALNUTRITION
Since 2008, countries large and small have faced tough economic times. As donor
countries re-evaluate their development strategies and developing countries wrestle
with scarce resources, nutrition is located at the nexus of good development and smart
economics. In addition to the negative, and often fatal, health consequences for children,
malnutrition means children achieve less at school and their productivity and health in
adult life is affected, which has dire financial costs for entire countries.
Stunting stymies both physical and cognitive growth. It is linked to children starting
school late and to failure to complete primary education. A multi-country study has
shown that stunting at age two is associated with a reduction in schooling of almost one
year, with a 16% increase in risk of failing at least one grade. 30 Iodine deficiency, which
affects one-third of school children in developing countries, leads on average to a loss
of 10–15 IQ points, 31 and stunting has been shown to be associated with significant
reductions in cognitive development. 32 The effect of this on a child’s future potential
is significant. In Zimbabwe, malnutrition is judged to have reduced lifetime earnings of
individuals by 12% due to its impact on educational achievement. 33
Adults affected by malnutrition throughout their lives have been judged to earn
almost 20% less than their non-affected counterparts. 34 A 1% loss in adult height due
to childhood stunting is associated with a 1.4% loss in productivity. 35 Iron deficiency
anaemia has been associated with a 17% loss of productivity in heavy manual labour. 36
The economic losses due to undernutrition are also pervasive – experimental evidence
suggests that tackling malnutrition in early life can lead to as much as a 46% increase
in earnings as an adult. 37 Productivity loss due to foregone waged employment was
estimated to be US$2.3 billion a year in India. 38
When viewed in relation to the scale of the global malnutrition crisis and the
millions of children who are stunted in poor countries, these findings on educational
achievement and productivity in later life indicate that nutrition plays an important role
in economic growth and development. National economic growth is negatively affected
by malnutrition, which commonly leads to losses in GDP by poor nations of as much as
2–3% per annum. 39 Globally it is estimated that the direct cost of child malnutrition is
between $20 billion to $30 billion per year. 40
In addition to benefiting a country’s GDP, ensuring good nutrition in the first 1,000 days
represents one of the best buys for child health. It generates a lifetime return in terms
of preventing illness. Malnutrition in early childhood takes its toll on health later in life.
Individuals are more likely to suffer from non-communicable diseases, such as heart and
kidney disease, and diabetes. Estimates suggest that 11% of the total global disease burden
relates back to malnutrition 41 – improving childhood nutrition would reduce national
health bills.
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