A report from the organization Caritas revealed an increase in child malnutrition in poor communities in Venezuela, particularly in children under five years of age.
In its most recent Bulletin Alert, Monitoring and Nutritional Care System (SAMAN), which covered 20 states and 56 municipalities of Venezuela Last August, the organization indicated that 29.5% of the 2,502 boys and girls evaluated are in a critical situation, either with acute malnutrition or risk of developing it.
Of this percentage, 9.1% have global acute malnutrition (moderate and severe), while 20.4% are at nutritional risk.
42% of the cases of malnutrition detected correspond to children under two years of age. In infants less than six months old, the bulletin reports a figure of 17.6% with acute malnutrition.
Caritas also examined the domestic conditions of the families surveyed. During the study, they found that in 8 states of the country59% of households reported deprivation in both quantity and quality of food, and 32% had to resort to ordering food or going to external services to feed themselves.
While 54% incurred debt and 76% used their savings to pay for basic food.
The organization warned that the situation is equivalent to the malnutrition found at the beginning of its humanitarian response in 2016.
In the opinion of the organization, these results show that the food emergency has continued without substantial improvements since then.
Cáritas Venezuela also stressed the urgency of strengthening the humanitarian response in the country, especially given the decrease in cooperation funds and the lower presence of actors on the ground.
