Half of the children in rural Laos are "chronically malnourished," according to a study released by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Thursday.
"In rural Laos today, every second child is chronically malnourished," said WFP Laos Representative Christa Raeder. "For some ethnic groups, the level of chronic malnutrition is even higher," said Raeder in a statement made available in Bangkok.
The WFP study, the first of its kind conducted in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), found that 13 per cent of rural households, or approximately 84,000 households, were "food insecure" at post-harvest time, and 50 per cent of rural households (330,000 households) were at risk of becoming food insecure.
The survey indicated 50 per cent malnutrition among children in rural areas, or approximately 255,000 chronically malnourished children in Laos today.
Food insecurity is especially critical in the northern provinces of Bokeo and Xiengkhuang, and in Saravane and Sekong provinces in the south, where the highest levels of chronic malnutrition was among ethnic minority groups.
Laos is a land-locked country half the size of France with a population of 6.5 million people.
Much of the country is mountainous and inaccessible by road.
The majority of people in rural Laos, especially in the highlands, still depend on natural resources for their livelihoods and nutrition and wild game, including fish, which still make up the bulk of protein and fat consumption, said the WFP.
Laos, one of Asia's poorest countries which has been under communist rule since 1975, has had a poor record in providing food, education and health services to its remote rural areas, especially the highlands where most ethnic minorities reside.
Much of the government's budget is financed by foreign aid.
"The Government of Lao PDR and the donor community should give the highest priority to addressing child malnutrition as a critical aspect of national development," said Raeder. (dpa)
