Britain is one of the worst developed countries for children facing food insecurity and sexual violence

pulse

June 16, 2017 11:57 AM

UNICEF surveyed 41 developed countries and found the UK performed particularly badly for child food security and sexual violence against girls under 15.

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The UK is one of the world's worst developed countries for child hunger and sexual violence, according to a new report by children's charity UNICEF.

Moderate or severe food insecurity — defined as a lack of secure access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food — was found to effect nearly 20% of children under 15 in the UK, significantly higher than the average of 12.7% for developed countries. The US was worse still, at 19.6%, while Japan had the best score, at only 1.4%.

Obesity is considered a form of malnutrition, which goes some way to explaining the very high levels of food insecurity in countries like the UK and US where food is generally plentiful, although not necessarily healthy.

A debate on food insecurity was heard in Westminster in December 2016, in which Labour MP Emma Lewell-Buck recalled her statement from 2014, that, "

Other key findings from UNICEF's report included:

Neonatal mortality has dramatically fallen in most countries, and rates of adolescent suicide, teenage births and drunkenness are declining. However, 1 in 4 adolescents reports two or more mental health issues more than once a week.
Even in the best-performing countries, including Japan and Finland, around one fifth of 15-year-olds do not reach minimum proficiency levels in reading, mathematics and science.
On average, 14 per cent of adults surveyed in 17 rich countries believe that boys deserve preference for university education, and in the majority of these countries the belief is higher among males.

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