Ecuador seeks to reduce chronic malnutrition in children

The Technical Secretary of the Ecuador Program Grows Without Malnutrition, Erwin Ronquillo, announced on Friday to Teleamazonas that part of the measures implemented so far include bringing services closer to citizens.

One way to do this, he said, is through the Childhood with the Future caravans, which will continue touring all over the national territory until September.

According to Ronquillo, part of this initiative focuses on education about malnutrition and another part focuses on providing care to the population.

He explained, for example, health check-ups for children, immunizations, as well as care for pregnant women and the elderly.

The official also explained that until November, when a new president takes office, the General Secretariat will work to strengthen prevention, which is the key to reducing the rate of malnutrition.

At the beginning of this year, the National Institute of Statistics and Census of Ecuador (Inec) revealed that more than 10,700 children were randomly surveyed in the first specialized study with the aim of obtaining specific data and developing a public policy with available resources to deal with aggravating conditions.

The head of the committee stressed that the last investigation into the matter was conducted in the country in 2018 and that the data was not encouraging. “27 percent of children under the age of two across the country suffer from chronic malnutrition,” he said.

l/nta