Olinda, March 19, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - One of the most serious diseases caused by hunger is malnutrition, mainly affecting children, rendered vulnerable by the lack of adequate food intake. Around 50% of the cases of infant mortality currently registered in Brazil are directly related to malnutrition. This is the evalutation made by Malaquias Batista, professor of Nutrition at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) and one of the greatest Brazilian specialists in this field. Batista is a member of the National Food Security Council (Consea) and is one of the participants in the II National Conference on Food Security and Hunger Alleviation, opened on Wednesday (17) night by President Lula, in Olinda (PE).

Using a set of procedures originally created by the World Health Organization (WHO) to reduce infant mortality, a group of Brazilian and foreign scientists, including the professor and his doctoral student, Ana Falbo, decided to conduct an experiment at the Maternal-Infantile Institute of Pernambuco, where they succeeded in reducing the indexes of infantile mortality from 38% to around 12% in two years.

Batista, who presented the lecture "Nutritional and Health Aspects" at the Conference, said that the idea is to extend the project to all the hospitals and maternity posts in Pernambuco and then to the rest of the country.

Translator: David Silberstein