Latin America and Caribbean children’s right to nutritious food

The second issue of the Challenges newsletter, which came out in 2006, focused on the right to food of the children of Latin America and the Caribbean. This issue returns to that subject but approaches it from a different angle, with the emphasis now being on all forms of malnutrition rather than solely on undernutrition. This shift in emphasis reflects changes in the type of food supply accessible to children in the region. The lead article offers a thoughtful analysis that, in addition to recognizing the significant inroads in this respect that have been made in Latin America and the Caribbean, underscores the development challenges posed by undernutrition, overweight and obesity among children—challenges that have yet to be addressed by the region’s societies. Chile’s experience with the reduction of undernutrition and its efforts to meet the challenges now being posed by child obesity are discussed in the “Viewpoints” section. In the “Learning from experience” section, the discussion turns to human milk banks, efforts to improve nutrition in rural schools in El Salvador and the introduction of a tax on the consumption of sugary beverages in Mexico.
Article selection

Malnutrition among children in Latin America and the Caribbean
Proper nutrition is a fundamental element in the realization of children’s right to enjoy the highest attainable level of physical and mental health.

La experiencia chilena en la reducción de la desnutrición y desafíos actuales frente a la obesidad
Chile is one of the few countries in the world that succeeded in eradicating undernutrition between the 1960s and the 1980s. It did so by managing to apply well-designed policies on maternal and…

La experiencia chilena en la reducción de la desnutrición y desafíos actuales frente a la obesidad
Chile is one of the few countries in the world that succeeded in eradicating undernutrition between the 1960s and the 1980s. It did so by managing to apply well-designed policies on maternal and…
Human milk banks
Breast milk is the best food for infants. The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF recommend exclusive breastfeeding from the first hour of life until at least 6 months of age.
Number
Publication type
Challenges NewsletterEditorial commitee
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNICEF TACRO)
Editorial Committee:
ECLAC: Laís Abramo, Jorge Rodríguez, Daniela Trucco
UNICEF: Catalina Gómez, Andrés López
General Coordination: Daniela Trucco, Daniela Huneeus
Contributors: Ignacio Carrasco, Stefano Fedele, Susana Guzmán, Gladys Hauck, Rodrigo Martinez, Amalia Palma, Claudia Robles, Heidi Ullmann.
Challenges
Number 21, April 2018
ISSN electronic version 1816-7535
© United Nations, April 2018
All rights reserved
Contact:
uniceflac@unicef.org