Hungry floating children
Saturday, 23 April 2011
Ameer Hamza
Some 20 million children go to school on an empty stomach every day, according to the World Food Programme. Often heavyweight organisations like these enlist media production houses to focus on such dismal facts - sometimes with colourful rallies in the city - supposedly to mobilise public opinion and inspire concerted action from all quarters to end child hunger. One child every six seconds dies of hunger-related causes, says WFP, and for Bangladesh it is two children every hour! Such disturbing data do not make news too often perhaps because the deaths are due more to 'persistent hunger,' that is not apparent like outright famine, therefore not as noticeable as the unbearable images induced by acute hunger and thirst over long periods as in Sub-Saharan Africa. During media events luminaries are found making the politically correct noises. This is routine. Some swear to 'do everything possible to end hunger of our children,' and call upon the privileged sections as well as the non-government organisations to complement the government's food-for-education programme. But does the latter really work as it should? Started some years ago, it seems to have more to do with drawing children to school (through doles of grain) than feeding them for their health and well being. Indeed, the whole spirit of the school feeding concept is skewed in the process. What about the millions more outside schools who go hungry despite the much touted 'food security' of successive governments? This sight of hungry floating children, sniffing glue on the pavement of Topkhana Road is a stark reminder that both the community and the government have been failing to give the poor their due. These 'street urchins', as the insensitive media is so fond of calling such kids, confess to buying drops of 'rubber solution' or other such noxious adhesives, sticking the stuff inside cellophane bags and taking lungs-ful of the vapours. It helps them forget hunger! One sees such victims of utter neglect engrossed in action everywhere. Bumper harvests of the staple crops notwithstanding, Bangladesh is one of the world's most poorly fed nations. Stores full of grain are not enough to constitute a healthy diet. But with other essentials like animal and fish proteins and pulses and even most fruits and vegetables going beyond the reach of the majority what else do most people eat? In the zeal for export-oriented enterprises, Bangladesh's policy makers have been neglecting the issue of the nation's dwindling diet in terms of both quantity and quality of basic foods. What is worse, dozens of food and beverage companies are being allowed to churn out items that offer little in terms of nutrition but plenty in terms of health hazards and waste of money. Shouldn't governments that have the well-being of its citizenry at heart persuade such companies to switch to healthy and affordable foods? Is it too naive to expect a truly pro-people leadership in Sonar Bangla? We ought to educate all that energy-yielding, body-building and protective foods are all needed together for a balanced diet. This is the greatest single factor in securing good health. And it must start from the mother's womb. No doubt even a low quality diet may keep children and adults alive, but without enough good quality food people cannot enjoy full health nor can they realise their full potential. A shortage of protective foods (vitamins and minerals) in the diet does not cause obvious hunger and may not cause clear signs of illness, though it results in general tiredness and a lessened capacity for mental and physical activity. There is no alternative to fixing the nation's diet. Proper feeding is the most promising strategy that can end hunger in children and build their brains and bodies in due time. Both our people and our governments must wake up to this urgent need. Consider that whereas in well-fed countries, children have been growing several inches taller than their parents over the past decades, in Bangladesh, they have been growing shorter on average as a result of a poor diet!
Some 20 million children go to school on an empty stomach every day, according to the World Food Programme. Often heavyweight organisations like these enlist media production houses to focus on such dismal facts - sometimes with colourful rallies in the city - supposedly to mobilise public opinion and inspire concerted action from all quarters to end child hunger. One child every six seconds dies of hunger-related causes, says WFP, and for Bangladesh it is two children every hour! Such disturbing data do not make news too often perhaps because the deaths are due more to 'persistent hunger,' that is not apparent like outright famine, therefore not as noticeable as the unbearable images induced by acute hunger and thirst over long periods as in Sub-Saharan Africa. During media events luminaries are found making the politically correct noises. This is routine. Some swear to 'do everything possible to end hunger of our children,' and call upon the privileged sections as well as the non-government organisations to complement the government's food-for-education programme. But does the latter really work as it should? Started some years ago, it seems to have more to do with drawing children to school (through doles of grain) than feeding them for their health and well being. Indeed, the whole spirit of the school feeding concept is skewed in the process. What about the millions more outside schools who go hungry despite the much touted 'food security' of successive governments? This sight of hungry floating children, sniffing glue on the pavement of Topkhana Road is a stark reminder that both the community and the government have been failing to give the poor their due. These 'street urchins', as the insensitive media is so fond of calling such kids, confess to buying drops of 'rubber solution' or other such noxious adhesives, sticking the stuff inside cellophane bags and taking lungs-ful of the vapours. It helps them forget hunger! One sees such victims of utter neglect engrossed in action everywhere. Bumper harvests of the staple crops notwithstanding, Bangladesh is one of the world's most poorly fed nations. Stores full of grain are not enough to constitute a healthy diet. But with other essentials like animal and fish proteins and pulses and even most fruits and vegetables going beyond the reach of the majority what else do most people eat? In the zeal for export-oriented enterprises, Bangladesh's policy makers have been neglecting the issue of the nation's dwindling diet in terms of both quantity and quality of basic foods. What is worse, dozens of food and beverage companies are being allowed to churn out items that offer little in terms of nutrition but plenty in terms of health hazards and waste of money. Shouldn't governments that have the well-being of its citizenry at heart persuade such companies to switch to healthy and affordable foods? Is it too naive to expect a truly pro-people leadership in Sonar Bangla? We ought to educate all that energy-yielding, body-building and protective foods are all needed together for a balanced diet. This is the greatest single factor in securing good health. And it must start from the mother's womb. No doubt even a low quality diet may keep children and adults alive, but without enough good quality food people cannot enjoy full health nor can they realise their full potential. A shortage of protective foods (vitamins and minerals) in the diet does not cause obvious hunger and may not cause clear signs of illness, though it results in general tiredness and a lessened capacity for mental and physical activity. There is no alternative to fixing the nation's diet. Proper feeding is the most promising strategy that can end hunger in children and build their brains and bodies in due time. Both our people and our governments must wake up to this urgent need. Consider that whereas in well-fed countries, children have been growing several inches taller than their parents over the past decades, in Bangladesh, they have been growing shorter on average as a result of a poor diet!