Worldwide, there are over 14 million children living as orphans as a result of poverty, war, HIV/AIDS and other causes. As many as 100 million more orphans are living homeless on the streets.
Based on reports by the World Food Program, 795 million people worldwide suffer from chronic hunger and an additional two billion people will suffer from a lack of food and nutrition by 2050. According to research, every 90 seconds another orphan starves to death and 60 million orphans go to sleep hungry every night.
Undernutrition in children under the age of five-years-old is a major risk factor to child deaths – an estimated 2.2 million deaths were associated with it. Undernutrition is also related to impaired cognitive development, as well as lower school performance. Due to their environment and situation, underprivileged children such as orphans are at a particularly increased risk of undernutrition.
Being an orphan may make the child more vulnerable to undernutrition. This is because many aspects – such as maternal and paternal level factors and household food availability – are more likely to be inadequate. For orphan children living in war-torn regions, the scarcity of food has also jeopardised their nutrition level – for these children, even getting sufficient food is a challenge in itself. Research has shown that Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are home to the majority of the world’s chronically undernourished children.
We cannot deny the importance of child nutrition.
Nutrition is important at every age – a child needs proper nutrients to stay and grow up healthy and strong. For the children who have sufficient food to survive their childhood but are lacking the nutrition when they grow up, this can have a lasting health impact on their adulthood.
“Poor diets in childhood can set the scene for serious health problems in adulthood, including diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease,”
Ms Jasly Koo, Dietitian, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital
Proper nutrition enhances the orphans’ immune system, enabling their bodies to fight off diseases. Proper nutrition also helps the child to focus better in school.
This is why we at Global Ehsan Relief aim to provide nutritious meals to orphans who are in dire need of it. We refuse to turn a blind eye to the pain and suffering of these orphans. When all you know is hunger, it becomes all you know of life.
Most of us are fortunate – we do not really understand what it’s like to be that hungry. But millions of other people do, and these include young children who are in their growing stages. They face their own battle due to the lack of food.
That’s where we come in.
Global Ehsan Relief is dedicated to uplifting the welfare of disadvantaged children and transforming their lives for the better. Through our Meals for Orphans project, we aim to serve healthy meals for orphans around the world who do not have access to nutritious food. With only $3, you could help provide three meals a day!
By contributing to this project, you will help to change innocent lives. Your donation will help provide proper nutrition to young, growing children and save the life of an orphan.
Let’s make a difference, even if it’s only one meal at a time.
