Khamsawei is a bright and eager pupil, but the 11-year-old’s enthusiasm is no match for her empty stomach.
A lack of a proper diet means Khamsawei spends most school days struggling to concentrate, unable to understand what her teacher is saying.
“I get hungry at school and I feel tired. I get headaches and I feel angry, dizzy and light-headed,” she says.
“The teacher tries to explain something but I cannot understand it because I feel tired and sleepy.”
Khamsawei’s mornings usually start with a 2km walk to the nearest clean water source before returning home to share a small breakfast of rice and bamboo with her mother, father, and three siblings.
Her family owns a small corn farm about 10km away from their home in a remote village in northern Laos. Her parents sell the corn to support their family, but the money is not enough to provide everything the children need.
“When we do not have enough food for dinner, sometimes I go into the garden and look for fruit in the fruit trees to eat for dinner,” Khamsawei says.
The first 1,000 days of a child’s life – from conception until the age of two – are critical in determining whether they will be able to reach their physical, intellectual and productive potential.
This is because if a child doesn’t have access to the food and nutrients they need in those first years of life, it can set them back permanently.
Unfortunately, almost a quarter of all children under five show signs they are not developing properly.
In 2017 about 151 million children under five suffered from stunted growth, a condition that has long-lasting effects and continues to be a leading cause of childhood deaths.
What is stunted growth?
Stunting is the impaired growth and development children experience because of poor nutrition or repeated infection.
A child may have stunted growth if they are undernourished or malnourished. The World Health Organization has developed growth standards that apply to all children regardless of their ethnicity, socio-economic status and their diet. If a child falls below these standards, they are defined as being “stunted”.
