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![image: [ Six million children die of malnutrition every year ]](/olmedia/images/_40256_unicef300.JPG)
The report by Unicef says three-quarters of these six million children show few or no signs of the condition.
![[ image: width=150]](/olmedia/images/_40256_unicef2.JPG)
The UN organisation has called for more action to be taken by governments to reduce the "invisible crisis."
Carol Bellamy, the Unicef Executive Director, said: "Malnutrition is not a simple matter of whether a child can satisfy his or her own appetite. A child who eats enough to avoid immediate hunger can still be malnourished.
"Good nutrition relies on a combination of adequate nutritious food, good health services and proper care for both children and pregnant women. The persistence of malnutrition has profound and frightening implications for children, society and the future of humankind."
![[ image: width=150]](/olmedia/images/_40256_unicef5.JPG)
The report called 1998 State of the World's Children reveals malnutrition not only causes mental and physical problems in children but it helps to perpetuate the cycle of poverty.
It claims the condition, mainly the result of disease and inadequate diet, is more widespread than many suspect - one in three children are affected.
The organisation says malnutrition lowers the productivity and abilities of entire societies in both developing countries and industrialised nations.
Unicef points out that many poor children in Britain and France suffer from a lack of vegetables, fruit or wholewheat bread. It also quotes a recent study of the United States which showed that more than 13 million children under the age of 12 go hungry at some time in the year.
The report concludes that breakthroughs in nutritional science could hold the key to reducing the problem.
The use of Vitamin A, which is found in foods such as eggs, butter, whole milk and liver, could help to save and improve thousands of lives although research is still inconclusive.
Anaemia threatens Kyrgyzstan's children
(16 Dec 97 | World)
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