Short Changed: The Human and Economic Cost of Child Undernutrition in Papua New Guinea

Evidence shows that a child will suffer cognitive and physical impairments if they are undernourished in the first 1000 days of life, from pregnancy to their second birthday. Tragically, these impairments are permanent and irreversible. If stunted, a child’s brain and body will never fully develop. These impairments limit a child’s education and employment prospects. Reduced individual earning capacity translates into reduced household level incomes and economic productivity at the national level. This is how undernutrition can trap children into an intergenerational cycle of poverty. Undernutrition robs children of their growth, education and employment prospects. It also threatens their very survival. According to national data in PNG, approximately 33% of all hospital deaths of children under five are either directly or indirectly caused by malnutrition. However, Frontier Economics estimates that malnutrition could be the underlying cause of up to 76% of total deaths of children under five across community and health facilities combined. This figure is staggering, and significantly higher than the global estimate of deaths of children under five associated with malnutrition at 45%.

Undernutrition weakens a child’s immunity and causes them to suffer more frequent and severe episodes of disease. This often causes a child to become further malnourished, leading to a potentially lethal cycle. Evidence also suggests that childhood undernutrition can increase mortality risks later in life, with stunted children more susceptible to obesity, coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

This report reveals, for the first time, the enormous human and economic costs of child undernutrition in PNG.