Nutritional status is a reflection of overall health. When there is access to sufficient food and low exposure to repeated illness, proper nutritional basics can be achieved and growth potentials for children can be reached. In terms of growth, malnutrition in Kazakhstan is quite the success story.

When focusing on malnourished children, the most fragile victims, it is evident that Kazakhstan has higher numbers than other neighboring countries. In Kazakhstan, four percent of children under the age of 5 are moderately underweight, and only 0.8 percent are classified as severely underweight.

Some children, however, are not reaching their growth potential. The age group that contained the highest number of growth stunts was the 12 to 18-month-old age group with 16.6 percent of children not reaching their potential. Even though this is the highest figure of the negative-oriented data, it is still comparatively okay.

Why is Kazakhstan doing well? Kazakhstan takes food security very seriously, which is probably a main factor. It is one of the world’s top producers of grain and flour, and it is also active in creating humanitarian aid programs for people in need. KazAID is one of the programs that Kazakhstan provides.

With its fundamental success in providing citizens with nutrition, Kazakhstan seeks to spread the well-being of its country to other countries in need using KazAID. Approval from major organizations, like the UNDP, has allowed KazAID to start providing assistance to other countries in the area.

– Erik Nelson

Sources: Kazakhstan UNSC, Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs, UNICEF, UNDP
Photo: SciELO Public Health