Rate of stunted children in Brazil on the decline
Brazil has made enormous improvements in nutrition in recent decades and could be seen as a role model in fighting hunger domestically. The amount of stunted children (children whose physical growth has been impaired due to malnutrition) has fallen dramatically from 19 percent in 1989 to just 7 percent in 2007, thanks to political commitment and action, and a reallocation of resources aiming to improve children’s access to nutrition.
This positive development is also due in part to the country offering free meals in public schools. 30 percent of these school meals are required to be prepared using food sourced from smallholder farmers, according to the UN’s World Food Programme.
In 2010, Brazil also made the notable decision to include the right to adequate and healthy food in its constitution, a few years later launching a set of dietary guidelines highlighting ten steps to a healthy diet.
