It is estimated that in developing countries more than 50% of deaths of children under five years old are associated with malnutrition, the majority being attributed to greater susceptibility of malnourished children to infectious and parasitic diseases. In countries in Asia and the Pacific, excluding China and India, it is estimated that child malnutrition alone is responsible for 12.3% of total deaths, 20.1% of all years of life lost due to premature mortality and 14.5% of all disability life years, according to a 1996 WHO study. These estimates indicate the magnitude of health gains that might be achieved if no child had a weight-for-age below normal.

Figure: Estimated numbers of underweight children in the Western Pacific Region (millions of children) with lower and uppers points of the 95% confidence interval.

The nutrition programme in the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific intervenes through four main "focuses":

• Child and Adolescent Health and Development, with regard to the micronutrient interventions and the improvement of feeding practices and dietary habits in infancy, childhood and adolescence;
• Healthy Settings and Environment in implementing the
  inter-sectoral approach of national plans of action for nutrition as well as food safety activities, aiming at improving the environment;
• Reproductive Health, for the interventions aimed at improving the nutritional status of women of reproductive age (including non-pregnant, pregnant and lactating women) as well as newborns, and
• Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, with regards to the prevention and control of diseases caused by overnutrition and sedentary lifestyles, like obesity and related diseases.

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