852 million people across the world are hungry.

815 million people in the developing world are undernourished. Every day, more than 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes - one child every five seconds.

More than 1 billion people currently live below the international poverty line, earning less than $1 per day.

Every year, nearly 11 million children die before they reach their fifth birthday. Almost 75% of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the two regions that also suffer from the highest rates of hunger and malnutrition.

In essence, hunger is the most extreme form of poverty, where individuals or families cannot afford to meet their most basic need for food.

When a family in a poor country cannot grow enough food or earn enough money to buy food, there is nowhere to turn for help.

Health Effects of Hunger and Poverty

Most people who battle hunger deal with chronic undernourishment and vitamin or mineral deficiencies, which result in stunted growth, weakness and heightened susceptibility to illness.

Undernourishment negatively affects people's health, productivity, sense of hope and overall well-being.

Poor nutrition and calorie deficiency causes nearly one in three people to die prematurely or have disabilities.

Pregnant mothers, new mothers, and children are highest at risk of undernourishment.

The four most common childhood illnesses are diarrhea, acute respiratory illness, malaria and measles. Each of these illnesses is both preventable and treatable, yet they often result in death due to chronic undernourishment and insufficient treatment.

Children under 5 years old in the Developing World...

• 27% are moderately to severely underweight
• 10% are severely underweight
• 10% are moderately to severely wasted
• 31% are moderately to severely stunted

Children under 5 years old in the Developing World...

The spreading HIV/AIDS epidemic has quickly become a major obstacle in the fight against hunger and poverty in developing countries.

Approximately 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in the world - sixty percent live in Sub-Saharan Africa Each year, another 5 million people become infected with HIV and more than 3 million people die of AIDS.

The majority of those falling sick with AIDS are young adults who normally harvest crops. Therefore, food production has dropped dramatically in countries with high HIV/AIDS prevalence rates.

In many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, per capita economic growth is estimated to be falling by between 0.5 and 1.2 percent each year as a direct result of AIDS.

In 2003, 12 million children were newly orphaned in southern Africa.

Approximately 25 million people have died from AIDS since the epidemic began, which has caused more than 15 million children to lose at least one parent.

 

UNICEF uses a term that illustrates the gravity of the situation

- Child-headed households - minors orphaned by HIV/AIDS who are raising their siblings