East Africa: Malnutrition worsening

Worsening rates of childhood malnutrition in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will cause long-lasting damage to all three countries' economies, a new World Bank study suggests. Drought in Kenya, war in Uganda and acute poverty in Tanzania are increasing the already high prevalence of underweight children throughout East Africa, government officials and aid agencies say. The World Bank report, based on year-old data, estimates that 22 per cent of Kenyans under the age of five are malnourished, along with 23 per cent of young Ugandans and nearly one-third of Tanzanian children.