Copyright 2000 InterPress Service, all rights reserved.           Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.                       *** 14-Apr-0* *** _title_: HEALTH: Low Birth-Weight Still Plagues Developing Countries By Marwaan Macan-Markar MEXICO CITY, Apr 14 (IPS World Desk)  Consider this fact: Babies born  under 2.5 kilograms have a 40-fold greater risk of dying in the neonatal period .. And this: Over 20 million babies born alive each year - mostly in dev eloping countries - weigh less than 2.5 kilograms. They were two examples cited by Carol Bellamy, the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), during a recent meeting th at UNICEF had with the World Bank and the United States' Department of Agricu lture to assess the substantial prevalence of low birth-weight in the world. For Bellamy, these statistics are unacceptable, given the promi ses made by government leaders during the 1990 World Summit for Children to ident ify low birth-weight as a priority over the next decade. At that summit in New York, which was attended by 71 heads of states and governments, it was resolved to reduce low birth-weight to 10 percent  or less by the year 2000. However, according to Bellamy, We are far from reaching it. And studies done by UNICEF bolster her view. Currently, close to 17 p ercent of all babies born in the world are low birth-weight babies, a figure th at was the case in 1990, too. Of the regions monitored by UNICEF, South Asia provides the most dism al numbers. In countries such as India and Bangladesh, some 30 to 40 per cent of babies are born  weighing less than 2.5 kilograms. In Africa, on the  other hand, the numbers hover between 10 and 20 percent. And in Latin Ameri ca, surveys have revealed it is between five and 15 percent. This is far from the case in the industrialised world, where, on aver age, only about five percent of babies have been identified with low birth- weig ht. For both UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO), low birth- we ight figures have served as a useful indicator to assess the health of bot h mother and baby in determining the picture of global health. A low birth-weight baby is more likely to die in infancy or early childhood, UNICEF says in its The Progress of Nations  1999  report. And i f the infant survives, she or he is likely to suffer more illnesses, to be malnourished, to fail to reach his physical and intellectual potential and to have lon g-term disabilities. What is more, adulthood will also not be a pleasant experience for su ch babies.  They will be prone to diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. According to Roger Shrimpton, who heads UNICEF's nutrition section in New York, this problem stems from the burdens mothers face, like inadequate nut rition before and during pregnancy and an increased workload during pregnanc y. Furthermore, in his view, teenage pregnancy and smoking have also con tributed to underweight babies. Bellamy's concern can be understood in light of another report, whi ch reveals that one in four new-born children in developing countries - estimate d at 30 million each year - suffer retarded growth in the womb due to malnour ished mothers. The nutritional well-being of mothers in pregnancy remains one of the most neglected areas in world health, declared the report, Ending Ma lnutrition by 2020: an Agenda for Change in the Millennium, published last mont h by the UN-appointed Commission on the Nutrition Challenges of the 21st centu ry. The situation in India illustrates such neglect, where more than 80 p ercent of pregnant women suffer from anaemia. If left unchecked, the authors of the report added, about one billion  stunted children will grow up with impaired mental development by 2020. That figure will mark a substantial increase from current estimates o f this handicapped generation, where some 200 million children worldwi de are stunted or handicapped in some way due to poor nutrition and as many as 250 m illion pre-school children suffer from mild vitamin A deficiency. According to WHO estimates, more than half of the young children in S outh Asia, for instance, suffer from protein-energy malnutrition, which is about  five times the prevalence in the industrialised world, at least three time s the prevalence in the Middle East and more than twice that of East Asia. In Sub-Saharan Africa, on the other hand, the estimates of protein- en ergy malnutrition is prevalent in approximately 30 percent of the children .. This is entirely preventable. Urgent action is needed to save thes e children from suffering an unnecessary blight in the future, stressed Pro fessor Philip James who chaired the nutrition commission and is head of the Interna tional Obesity Task Force. James' call has already been heeded by a number of countries in Afr ica and Asia, which have begun new approaches to remedy this weight deficienc y. They include assurance of adequate food intake during pregnancy, malaria prevention, reduction of the mother's workload and an improved intake of vitami ns and minerals. However, Shrimpton is not convinced that such remedial measures will  result in emphatic change, since these public health programmes lack a clear st rategy. Very few programmes have targeted prevention of low birth-weight a s a priority, he observes. And to redress that, UNICEF has a plan. What Bellamy seeks is to fact or in the birth-weight of new-borns as a key component of our strategy for e arly childhood development. In addition, James has emphasised a need for a UN-led global nutri ent strategy, which will refocus priorities on diversifying crops and reviving consumption of the traditional wide range of cereals, vegetables and  fruits.  (END/IPS/HE/mmm/da/00) Origin: Rome/HEALTH/