children's nutritional status in Cambodia
Families in rural areas earn less than US$2 per day and cannot afford nutritious meals or to send their children to school.
Good nutrition is the basis for survival, health and development. Well-nourished children perform better in school, grow into healthy adults and in turn give their children a better start in life. Poverty, lack of knowledge, high unemployment rate and poor access to health services are major contributors to childhood malnutrition.
Almost 50% of children are plagued by malnutrition with a high rate of underweight and wasting. Likewise, children are a disadvantaged segment of the population who are not only prone to rapidly deteriorating and fatal infectious diseases, but are also very dependent for their survival on health care service provision and the health seeing behaviors of their parents or caretakers. High rates of maternal mortality further affect the well-being and survival of newborns and children. Poor health practice is not unusual among the general population in Cambodia. Child health status is also strongly correlated with the mother’s level of education and mother’s income as women are more likely to spend their money on a child’s welfare compared to other members of the family.
CDMD’s Daycare Child Center aims to help break this poverty cycle.
