Malnutrition of children in the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea.

Natural disasters have caused extensive damage to crops and to infrastructure in the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea (DPRK). The international community has responded by providing emergency food aid. To improve understanding of the magnitude of food deficiency in the DPRK. The World Food Programme (WFP) conducted a nutritional assessment survey in August 1997. The survey measured the height and weight of a total of 3984 children <7 y of age in 40 government-selected institutions. Additional information was obtained on institutional access to food and on the care, treatment and parental support of a subsample of severely malnourished and nonmalnourished children. The prevalence of acute malnutrition (wasting), based on weight-for-height Z-score < -2, varied from 0 to 32.7% among institutions, and the prevalence of chronic malnutrition (stunting), based on height-for-age < -2 Z-score varied from 0.6 to 74.1%. The findings from this survey indicate the presence of areas with severe acute or chronic malnutrition in the DPRK.

PIP: An estimated 23.9 million people inhabit the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea (DPRK). In addition to economic and credit problems, DPRK experienced major natural disasters, including hailstorms, floods, drought, and tidal waves during 1994-97. These natural disasters have caused considerable damage to crops and infrastructure in DPRK. In response, the international community has provided emergency food aid. To assess the magnitude of food deficiency in the DPRK, the World Food Program (WFP) conducted a nutritional assessment survey in August 1997, measuring the height and weight of 3984 children under age 7 years in 40 government-selected institutions. Additional information was collected on institutional access to food and the care, treatment, and parental support of a subsample of severely malnourished and nonmalnourished children. The prevalence of acute malnutrition, based upon weight-for-height Z-score of less than -2, was 0-32.7% among institutions, while the prevalence of chronic malnutrition based upon height-for-age Z-score of less than -2 was 0.6-74.1%. This survey has identified areas of the DPRK in which severe acute or chronic malnutrition exists.

Women and food aid: a developmental perspective.

PIP: The unique aspect of food aid projects is that food, rather than money, is used for achieving developmental objectives. As food is usually controlled by women, they benefit most from considering it to be of economic value. Poor women seem to be short of resources--time and money--which can be supplemented by food aid. Through its income-transfer effect, food aid can enable women to work fewer hours/day and thus have more discretionary time. It can also provide, directly or indirectly, the cash necessary for women to use skills they already possess to set themselves up in small businesses. Food aid projects achieve their developmental objectives through: the nutritional content of the distributed commodity; the income transfer effect; cooperatives or associations; specific activities associated with the project; community improvement aspects resulting from the project; and provision of budgetary support to release resources for additional developmental activities. There are a number of ways through which food aid exerts its effect on women from a developmental perspective. Consumption of the food aid commodity provides women with an improved diet. Food aid as an income transfer can enable women to have more discretionary time. Providing women with opportunities for income-generating activities is an important aspect of development. Women's cooperatives or associations funded by food aid commodities can provide women with income. Current food aid projects, if properly planned, can be beneficial to women without the incorporation of specific activities or skills training. One way that food aid helps women gain more time is by freeing them from wage employment. Another way is to use the income transfer for the purchasing of consumer goods that reduce their labor.^ieng