PHNOM PENH, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will expand its work supporting the Cambodian government to tackle the problem of child wasting across six provinces, with a donation of over 3.4 million U.S. dollars from the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), according to its press statement on Friday.

The project is expected to save an additional 5,200 lives over three years, the statement said.

Wasting, sometimes known as acute malnutrition, afflicts one in 10 Cambodian children under five and is characterized by a low weight to height ratio, it said, adding that the preliminary results of the 2021 Cambodia Demographic Health Survey showed that while childhood stunting decreased from 34 percent to 22 percent between 2014 and 2021, childhood wasting has remained unchanged at 10 percent.

"The new funding will allow UNICEF to support the Ministry of Health to scale-up the prevention and treatment of wasting by improving essential primary health care services in Takeo, Kampong Thom, Siem Reap, Pursat, Kampong Chhnang and Oddar Meanchey provinces," the statement said.

Wasting is usually related to the socioeconomic status of households, food insecurity, suboptimal child feeding practices, lack of access to safe water, or poor sanitation or hygiene, it said.

"Currently, less than 10 percent of the estimated 60,000 children suffering from wasting in Cambodia have access to treatment," the statement said.

The Southeast Asian nation set a target of reducing the number of children with symptoms of wasting from 10 percent to 5 percent by 2025. Enditem

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