Report: India's children going hungry

Saraiya, India -- A U.N. report suggests nearly half of young children in India are malnourished, a percentage surpassed only by Bangladesh and Nepal.

Researchers estimate that 60 million malnourished children under age 5 in India comprise 40 percent of the world's severely malnourished children. That is double the rate found in most of sub-Saharan Africa, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday. The newspaper said researchers fear rising food prices and government inefficiencies will push the number even higher.

"This has not been a policy priority for this country for the last 40 years," Victor M. Aguayo, chief of child nutrition and development at the United Nations Children's Fund office in New Delhi, told the newspaper.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.