Articles concernant l'alimentation et la santé des enfants au Tibet

Nutritional and health status of Tibetan children
(excerpts)
Harris NS, New England Journal of Medicine, 2001 Feb 1;344(5):341-7.
Overall, of 2078 children, 1067 (51%) had moderately or severely stunted growth. Of the 1556 children 24 months of age or older, 871 (56%) had stunted growth, which was severe in 380 (24%). Among the children in this group, 787 of the 1313 nonurban children (60%) had stunting, as compared with 84 of the 243 urban children (35%). Stunting was associated with clinical conditions such as rickets, abdominal distention, hair depigmentation, and skin lesions and with a maternal history of hepatitis or goiter.

Study Links Malnutrition to Stunted Growth of Tibet's Children
(excerpts)
By ERIK ECKHOLM, The New England Journal of Medicine, Published: February 1, 2001
Half of all children in the Tibetan region of China suffer from stunted growth, medical problems and potentially impaired intellectual development as a result of malnutrition, according to a new study by American and Tibetan doctors.

''They have clinical signs of malnutrition as will as high morbidity and mortality.''

In the new study, 56 percent of children aged 2 to 7 had moderate or severely stunted growth, compared with international standards.

Malnutrition Plagues Tibet's Children
(excerpts)
By CESAR CHELALA, The Japan Times: July 28, 2001.
New public health and social policies are needed to ensure that children won't continue to be the greatest victims of a (…) political situation.
60 percent of the children studied fell drastically below accepted international growth reference values
The children's shortness was a result of nutritional deficiencies -- chronic malnutrition during the first three years of life
Chronic malnutrition makes children more vulnerable to common childhood diseases such as intestinal and respiratory infections, which are frequently fatal. In addition, chronic malnutrition affects children's neurological and physical development.

Sixty-seven percent of the children studied also had rickets, a bone disease most frequently caused by vitamin D deficiency.

[Guidelines for greater attention on health and nutritional status of Tibetan children:] a rickets education and prevention program, encouragement of the use of an indigenous high-protein root called "dorma," support for traditional Tibetan medicine, and a health care and delivery program. These measures should be complemented by strengthening the infrastructure and access of health services, as well as by policies aimed at reducing poverty and illiteracy.

The children of Tibet, too long the victims of inadequate care and attention, deserve no less.