UNICEF Report: Over 15,000 Moroccan Children Under 6 Died in 2018 Due to Malnutrition

The figures are alarming and yet this reality should alert the health authorities. For UNICEF, this tragedy is caused by the changing living conditions on the planet.

The same document accuses the food system, which has become dysfunctional to the point of no longer guaranteeing children "the food they need to grow up healthy."

The same source reports that "at least 1 in 3 children under the age of 5 is malnourished or overweight and 1 in 2 suffers from unsuspected hunger."

All these pathologies undermine the ability of millions of children to grow well and realize their full potential, the same document specifies.

In Morocco, on the other hand, malnutrition among children under 5 years of age reached nearly 15% between 2013 and 2018. Worse, the diet is inappropriate as children are no longer breastfed from the age of 6 months.

According to this UNICEF study, nearly 45% of children aged 6 months to 2 years worldwide do not consume fruits or vegetables and nearly 60% also do not consume eggs, dairy products, fish or meat.

In addition, UNICEF mentions a figure of 560 children aged 14 and under who carry the AIDS virus. As for maternal mortality, the document reports 480 women who died in childbirth in 2017.

An appeal is therefore made to governments and the private sector to ensure the means for families, children and young people, and to mobilize support systems in the fields of health, water supply and sanitation, education and social protection to improve nutritional outcomes for all children.