Paulina Quintao – Research conducted by the Ministry of Health and UNICEF in 2013 shows that half of all Timorese children under the age of five suffer from malnutrition.
Ministry of Health department of nutrition chief Joao Bosco da Costa said malnutrition was caused by a variety of factors
"Poverty, lack of education, not having access to potable water or sanitation as well as a lack of food (all contribute to malnutrition rates)," he said. He said combatting malnutrition required a joint effort from all sectors.
Da Costa said initiatives by the Ministry of Health such as providing pregnant women with corn flour and vitamins as well as a push to increase breast feeding rates had driven down the incidence of malnutrition from 85 per cent in 2010 to 52 per cent in 2013.
He said the ministry had a plan to further decrease the rate of child malnutrition and would establish teams in districts and sub-districts to raise awareness of the importance of proper nutrition for children and pregnant women.
National Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Barreto said all children had the basic right to proper nutrition for their physical and intellectual development. She said there was a lack of information about which foods provided the best nutrition for children.
HIAM Health director Rosaria Martins da Cruz said she believed little had changed and malnutrition had continued to be a big problem. "I do not know how they did the research because I did not take part in that, but the reality is that there are a lot of malnutrition patients in HIAM Health's rehabilitation center," she said.