Malnutrition in young children affects development

A research group from the University of Oxford working on behalf of Save the Children has recently published their findings.

The 50 strong team are monitoring the lives of 12,000 children, in 4 developing countries for 15 years.

Subjects were monitored, interviewed and tested at key points to measure education ability, confidence as well as hopes and aspirations.

Environmental factors such as government, poverty, spending, budgets and local health and education.

This makes the research unique as they are developing a measure of poverty that’s unique to circumstance rather than a bank balance.

The research has shown that children living in poverty and being malnourished don’t develop in a number of key skills compared to their peers who have a healthier diet.

Results showed much lower literacy rates

7% lower performance in Mathematical activities

20% more likely to misread simple sentences

12% less likely to write a simple sentence by age 8

and overall 13% less likely to be at the appropriate level for their age compared to their peers.



So there’s a very strong indication of the negative effects of malnutrition on the development of children.



When you taken into consideration, best estimates say 25% of the world’s children are stunted by malnutrition.



Save the Children chief executive Justin Forsyth said: "These findings confirm our very worst fears – that poor nutrition is capable of seriously damaging a child’s life chances before he or she even sets foot in a classroom.

"We have made huge progress in tackling child deaths, but having a quarter of the world’s children at risk of underperforming at school will have grave consequences for the fight to end global poverty."