Children and adolescents are the worst victims of climate change.

Today is the second part of the serial report.

Pinky Akter : Jhumuri Akter. woke up in the morning and took panta rice, dry chili, raw onion and dry dal from the previous day on his plate for breakfast. Jhumuni and her three brothers and sisters have to eat this food almost every morning. Sometimes they have to have breakfast with rice and chili bharta. Such images of children and teenagers’ food plates are common in coastal villages.
When asked what is planned for lunch, Jumuni’s mother said, Alu bharta with thin dal will be served at noon.

she said that they have to eat hard to provide food for a family of five people. Although they had agricultural land before, it did not produce many crops. Her husband took a job in a brick kiln where he had to stay for six months.

13-year-old Jhumuni’s height is 8 feet four and a half inches and their weight is 25 kg. Jhumuni’s 4-year-old younger brother weighs only 9 kg. Their diet does not contain any iron, iodine, or essential fats. And so physical goth is hindered.

Irene of Shyam Nagar village of the same district. Age 12. The family of 5 including three sisters and parents raised cattle and grazed well, but now there are no cattle left in the herd. And so the family is struggling to provide food for the mouths of 5 people in a world of scarcity. Arin’s father said that there is no grazing land, no grass, so it was not possible to raise cows. Besides, I could have fed the eggs from the Haas chickens, but they all died because of the salt water.

Ramakrishna Jowardar, an environmental activist of the coastal region, said that due to climate change and environmental pollution, the coastal areas are increasing day by day due to disasters, inundation, floods, and salt water and cropland are being destroyed. People’s unemployment is increasing, and poverty in the family is increasing. At the same time, child and adolescent malnutrition are increasing. By this, they are easily getting sick. There are many physical problems.

It is more important to keep the skeleton strong in children and adolescents. For this, the child should be fed an adequate amount of calcium and vitamin D food. Scientists recommend 600 units of vitamin D daily for children over one year of age and 1300 mg of calcium daily for children aged 9-18 years.

According to a report by UNICEF, two-thirds of children aged 6 months to 2 years do not get enough to eat. They are deprived of physical growth and brain development. In addition to this, their immunity is decreasing, the level of infection in their bodies is increasing, and even in some cases, children are dying. The report also states that 28 percent of children are born underweight. After birth, 51 percent of children are fed cow’s milk. 49 percent of children are not given breast milk on time. 55 percent of children under six months are exclusively breastfed. That is, 45 percent of children of this age are deprived of this nutritious food.

Sharif Jamil, general secretary of the Bangladesh Environment Movement (BPA), said that the rate of child malnutrition in the country has not decreased significantly. Children are still suffering from malnutrition, especially in marginal areas, he believes that climate change is a major cause. Sharif Jamil said unplanned industrialization along the coast is adversely affecting the agricultural sector of the country and salinity is also responsible for the shrimp cages. And due to these reasons, people’s livelihood is being disrupted due to the influence of cropland, a food crisis is occurring, and children’s families are not able to provide food security.

According to nutritionists, a malnourished teenage girl has a late onset of menstruation. Again not regular. Also, white discharge may come out. And the main cause of this disease is malnutrition.

Rifat bin Sattar, Sector Director of Program Development and Quality at Save the Children, said the government needs to be more proactive in eradicating child malnutrition. Poverty still remains in marginal areas and children and teenagers are the first to face the impact of everything. If they are not provided with food security, there will be a shortage of skilled manpower in future generations. Therefore, the climate change problem must be addressed internationally. The government needs to take measures regarding the impact of the weather on production as well as proper planning of the projects in the government.

After visiting the coast and talking with the locals, it is known that due to the climate, there is a shortage of fish, the production of food crops has decreased and trees are dying in forestry.

Mizanur Rahman, the coordinator of Coast Trust, a non-governmental (NGO) organization working with the coast, said over the last few years, there has been an increase in winter, heat imbalance, and river erosion. The life of ordinary people in the Coastal area is greatly disrupted. Due to excess rainfall, the natural balance is disturbed. Due to the intrusion of saline water in these areas, agricultural production is decreasing and animal husbandry is threatened due to a lack of fodder. To protect from this situation, it is necessary to implement special projects nationally and internationally.