Malnutrition among Iraqi children alarming: survey

washingtonpost: Malnutrition among Iraqi children has reached alarming levels, according to a U.N.-backed government survey showing people are struggling to cope three years after U.S.-forces overthrew Saddam Hussein.

Nine percent -- almost one in 10 -- of children aged between six months and five years, suffered acute malnourishment, said the report on food security and vulnerability in Iraq.

"Children are...major victims of food insecurity," it said, describing the situation as "alarming."

A total of four million Iraqis, roughly 15 percent of the population, were in dire need of humanitarian aid including food, up from 11 percent in a 2003 report, the survey of more than 20,000 Iraqi households found. Read more