The WFP Brazil – Center of Excellence against Hunger, the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) and the Ministry of Health, officially started this Friday (7) a new stage of the South-South Cooperation Project for Coping with the Multiple Burden of Malnutrition in Schoolchildren. The project foresees the collaboration of the three institutions – and others that will be defined later – in the production of evidence and exchange of successful experiences between Brazil and other countries that also face the problem.
The target audience of the project is made up of children from 5 to 10 years old. Among the products planned are the development of educational materials for children and support and training materials for managers. Other actions include advanced techniques to highlight the multiple burdens of malnutrition and obesity in the countries involved, the strengthening of knowledge networks and participation in national and international seminars on the subject.
The multiple burden of malnutrition is the combination of malnutrition and obesity in the same community. About 49.5 million children under the age of five are underweight for their height. Meanwhile, approximately 40 million children in the same age group are overweight. These problems, in addition to negatively influencing people’s health and quality of life, are also linked to a series of diseases, which have social and economic consequences for the families and communities in which these children live.