Children in the Philippines suffer from “sub-Saharan levels” of malnutrition that stunts growth in a people who have traditionally been considered short because of genetics, a campaign group said Thursday.
Although economic growth has surged in recent years, chronic malnutrition means the country has more stunted children than Ethiopia or the Republic of Congo, the Save the Children Fund said in a new report.
“The assumption has always been that Filipinos are just genetically short but what we actually see now are generations of stunted and malnourished children,” said Amado Parawan, the group’s health and nutrition adviser.
About one in three children under five years of age is suffers from stunting said the charity.
“Sometimes, the families may hide such children out of shame that they cannot feed them,” Parawan told AFP. Details