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| Farmers inspect wheat at Kumsong Farm in Onchon County of Nampho City, North Korea, May 23. AP-Yonhap |
By Jung Min-ho
Nearly one out of five North Korean children under the age of five suffer from malnutrition, according to a recent international health study.
While the rate of stunting ― impaired growth and development manifested by low height-for-age ― of North Korean children in that age group was estimated at 16.8 percent, the rate of wasting ― low weight-for-height, known as the most dangerous form of undernutrition ― was 2.5 percent, according to a report released jointly last week by the U.N. Children's Fund, the World Health Organization and the World Bank Group.
The rates are among the highest levels in the world, and far greater than the 1.7 percent and 0.2 percent recorded among South Korean children, respectively.
The data indicates that more than 326,000 North Korean children's health is in a dire situation caused by a lack of food.
Nevertheless, it was an improvement from 10 years ago, when North Korea was reported to have some 411,300 children suffering from stunting.
Meanwhile, the number of overweight children there stood at 2.8 percent ― the fifth lowest among all the countries studied.
"All forms of malnutrition are preventable," the report says. "As the world responds to the crisis, urgent action is critical to protect maternal and child nutrition ― especially in the most affected regions ― and secure a future where the right to nutrition is a reality for every child."
