At least one in every three children under five is undernourished or overweight and one in every two suffers from hidden hunger, undermining the capacity of millions of children to grow and develop to their full potential, according to the latest UN report, published on Tuesday.
However, climate change was playing a pivotal role for malnutrition in Bangladesh, the UNICEF report said.
The study styled "the State of the World's Children 2019, Growing Well in a Changing World: Children, Food and Nutrition, How the Triple Burden of Malnutrition Harms Children, Adolescents and Women," also focused obesity as a great threat for public health.
The report said 19 million children across Bangladesh are on the frontline of climate change disasters and 25 per cent them are under 05 years old.
However, Bangladesh's under-five mortality rate was considerably good in South Asia-33 deaths per thousand births which is 40 in India, 41 in Nepal, 85 in Pakistan and 75 in Afghanistan.
Sri Lanka was best performer with only nine deaths at per thousand births.
The UNICEF report pointed out that the triple burden of malnutrition - undernutrition, hidden hunger and overweight - threatens the survival, growth and development of children, young people, economies and nations
It said undernutiorition causing stunting and wasting resulting in poor growth, infection and death, poor cognition, school-readiness and school performance and poor earning potential later in life.
Hidden hunger causes deficiencies in micronutrients that is responsible for poor growth and development, poor immunity and tissue development and poor health and risk of death.
The report said 340 million of children were suffering from hidden hunger.
It said 59 per cent of children worldwide are not being fed much-needed nutrients from animal source foods while 44 per cent are not fed any fruits or vegetables.
Over weight was responsible for cardiovascular problems, infections and poor self-esteem; obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic disorders, it said.
The report said for the hidden hunger one in every 7 children under 5 is wasted in South Asia.
However, the Bangladesh's climate change has been depicted as the key reason behinds the undernourishment in the country.
The report said floods and riverbank erosion are driving families to city slums, where they face overcrowding and a lack of access to healthy food, education, adequate health services, sanitation and safe water.
In slums, children must often fend for themselves and are at greater risk of malnutrition, child labour, child marriage and exposure to pollution, violence and abuse.
Extreme climatic events such as drought and flash floods cause severe agricultural losses.
"In a country where over 60 per cent of the population depend on agriculture for their livelihood, this means that children from the poorest families are most likely to go hungry," the report said.
"Reductions in production also lead to an increase in food prices, hitting the poorest families hardest," it said.
A rise in communicable and non-communicable diseases linked to changing climate conditions and unplanned urbanization also threaten children and their families.
These include hepatitis A, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, dengue and chikungunya fever, the report said.
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