End child malnutrition in Laos

Children facing malnutrition in Saravane Province

Hushed whispers greeted me as I entered the worn, wooden school room in the Saravane province. The students, sitting quietly in their white school uniforms, had one question to ask me during my short visit: How did I get so tall?

SEDA visited several schools in the Saravane province recently to meet with local villagers and discuss further improvements needed to raise the standard of living for the rural farmers of Laos. During the visits, SEDA noted that the majority of children in the schools suffered from malnourishment and malnutrition. Students ranging between 8 and 10 years old measured less than 4 feet tall, obvious signs of stunted growth caused by lack of proper nutritional meals. One student, when asked, admitted that his meals consisted of rice and chili sauce.

In rural Laos, malnutrition is widespread, and and access to education on proper nutritional choices as well as healthy foods is severely limited, where people make less than two dollars a day living off small subsistence crops. Until these villagers get the proper education and improve their quality of life through sustainable income, children in Laos will continue to battle with the effects of malnutrition.

The WFP reported in 2007 that 50% of children under 5 in Laos suffer from malnourishment which has stunted their growth, which I witnessed first-hand on my trip to the school. One boy admitted that his daily diet consisted of rice and chili sauce. Without dietary knowledge and access to a more nutritional variety of foods, the rural children of the Saravane province and Laos will continue to suffer from malnutrition and it's complications. We need your support to help combat this problem so the children lead healthy lives into adulthood.