Panama, Nov 13 (Prensa Latina) Indigenous people, children, and women are the most exposed today to poverty and chronic malnutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean, given the level of inequality that persists in these populations, the United Nations revealed. A Panorama that in the indigenous and rural population of the region tends to increase, to the point that in Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Suriname the rates observed in urban areas exceed in more than 50 percent.
'Chronic malnutrition is closely related to inequalities and poverty, but also overweight is increasingly affecting the poorest children,' said Maria Cristina Perceval, director of UNICEF for Latin America and the Caribbean.
She pointed out that infants are precisely the ones who face the most conditions of high social and economic vulnerability, in addition to suffering inequitable access to health services and healthy diets.
According to the UN report, 19 million women suffer from severe food insecurity, an amount that exceeds by four million the rate of men, who have less incidence of obesity in relation to women.
'Gender equity is a valuable policy instrument to reduce inequalities, which means promoting equality in access and control of household resources, as well as decisions to empower women,' said the World Food Program Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Miguel Barreto.
In Latin America, 8.4 percent of women suffer from severe food insecurity compared to 6.9 percent of men; while in 10 countries in the region, 20 percent of the poorest children suffer three times more from chronic malnutrition than the same percentage of the richest children.
According to the study, one of the main causes of the rise of malnutrition in vulnerable populations is the changes suffered by the food systems of the region, from production to consumption.
He stressed that, although the most excluded sectors of society increased the consumption of healthy foods such as milk and meat, many times they should opt for products with a high content of fat, sugar, and salt, due to their lower cost.
Therefore, the Pan American Health Organization and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Program, called on countries to implement public policies that combat inequality and promote healthy and sustainable food systems.
