Poor nutrition is implicated in more than half of all child deaths worldwide – a proportion unmatched by any infectious disease since the Black Death
There are no territories without some underweight children living there. The percentage of underweight children can be as low as 1%, as it is in Chile and Japan.
Half of all children under the age of 5 years old that are underweight live in Southern Asia. Almost half of all children under 5 in Bangladesh, Nepal and India are underweight.
Southeastern Africa, Asia Pacific, Northern Africa and Eastern Asia are also home to relatively large numbers of underweight children. Within these regions the territories with the largest populations of underweight children are: Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nigeria and China.
