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5th June 2008

Dear Sir,

The UN food summit in Rome draws to a close today. A glaring omission in the discussions of the G8 heads of state and ministers has been the special nutritional needs of young children.

Rising world food prices risk aggravating the existing chronic crisis of undernutrition infants and young children.

Beyond the period of exclusive breast-feeding, the quality of the food children receive is as important as the quantity. To maintain health and grow, children between 6 and 24 months old need energy-dense, nutrient rich foods from animal sources such as dairy, eggs, meat or fish.

Therefore, simply increasing the quantity of food aid is not enough. The fortified blended flours currently distributed via international food aid are inappropriate for young children; they would not be sold on the market in developed countries. It is vital that food aid programmes take into account the importance of targeting the nutritional needs of young children. For example, the production and distribution of ''ready-to-use'' nutrient-rich foods designed especially for children needs to be radically scaled up.

MSF teams see the devastating impact of childhood malnutrition every day: it weakens resistance and increases the risk of dying from common childhood conditions such as diarrhea or respiratory infections. Malnutrition contributes to atleast a third of the 9.8 million deaths in children under  5 every year. Enhancing existing food aid may increase the global cost of food aid programmes, but if the world truly seeks to contain this growing crisis, this cannot be seen as a luxury.

Dr Susan Shepherd

Nutrition Advisor to MSF's Access Campaign