Poverty

In “Effects of Famine: Short Stature Evident in North Korean Generation,” Demick tells us the story of a North Korean refugee named Myung Bok who is 16. He stands at 4’7 and wasn’t recognizable according to his sister who had fled North Korea 4 years earlier. During childhood, he used to always be taller. Now, he can look over his head without tippy-toeing. This is a widespread issue in North Korea, where many youth are stunted from early age into their older years.

The World Food Program and UNICEF say that 42% of North Korean children are stunted due to malnutrition, and the number these days has probably only grown. Demick brings up that some anthropologists found that most teenage boys in Yanji, a Chinese city near the border housing North Korean refugees, are less than 5 feet tall and weigh less than 100lbs, a stark comparison to the 5’8 average height of South Korean teenage boys. The lack of height has led schools to constantly motivate their students to work out in order to grow taller. Not only has it led to height development issues, but mental as well. North Korean refugees have lower IQs and struggle to keep up in school with their South Korean counterparts. Demick finally mentions some studies that show how North and South Korean individuals have little to no difference in height if they finished developing before the country split. After the split, a corrupt government and poor leadership have only caused North Korean individuals’ development to suffer.

This article was written by Barbara Demick, a journalist and also the Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles times. The Seattle Times news archives, which the article is kept under, still makes this a reliable source, because both are well known news organizations. Despite being an 18-year-old article, it still carries some relevant information and statistics that can be compared to how it is today. Using the statistics can help us compare North Korea from over a decade ago to how bad it is, likely much worse, under Kim Jong Un. The aforementioned information can also be a good example for my argument that adequate nutrition plays a big role in our height, especially considering North and South Koreans used to be one unified people but have such disparities nowadays.

This article mentions multiple growing problems that children in the Philippines have. It's not simply a matter of being malnourished or short. It's not getting the RIGHT nutrients to grow. The article states that 1 in 3 children are too short for their age, about 7% are underweight, and about 10% are overweight. The combination of not having access to good healthcare, dirty living conditions, and not being able to feed children the right foods led to these issues. According to the National Nutrition Council (NNC) which was mentioned in the article, the first 1000 days of life for an infant is crucial in getting the nutrients it needs to grow big and strong.

With the widespread poor living conditions within the Philippines, it's a difficult feat, almost impossible for many families. Many children are therefore permanently stunted for the rest of their life and can't reach their maximum possible height (see 'Genetics' section for more details). In order to feed their children, some families turn to fast food, carbonated drinks and junk foods. They have become more widely available and affordable, making it an easy solution to give their kids something to eat.

UNICEF is a well-known worldwide humanitarian aid organization. There should be no issue in trusting that the information given is reliable, and since it was written around 3 years ago the information isn't the most up-to-date but can still be quite relevant. I can use the information within this article to show that the issue in many countries such as the Philippines don't just face the problem of malnutrition. The poverty within these country's also affected the quality of food children are eating.

Olney says that a lot of Filipinos are short not because of genetics that only Filipinos have, but that for generations Filipinos have lived in poverty and struggle to feed their children. Many Southeast Asian countries have shorter average heights the further South you go. The economy from China is also more prosperous but declines when you go further down to countries like the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia. About 1/3 of Filipino children less than 5 years of age are stunted, which is actually a better number than the past. Stunting in children affects not only their physical growth but their cognitive growth as well.

So many children in the Philippines are stunted that the number of stunted children is lower in many African countries. If you focus in on the region of Mindanao, the number of stunted children gets even higher. Hone in just a little bit more on the Muslim regions of Mindanao and almost 2/3 of all children are stunted. Olney states a call for action, as a few million Filipino children aren't able to have the standard three meals per day, some even not being able to eat at all. This has led to many deaths caused by malnutrition. But it makes sense why it happens. Minimum wage workers (which is common in the Philippines) spend about P151 (Philippine pesos) to feed five family members when 3x that amount is what is needed to give that same family three nutritionally balanced meals per day.

Ned Olney is a director for Save the Children for the Philippines. He's had more than two decades of experience, having led Save the Children in helping families in need during Typhoon Yolanda and Typhoon Ruby, as well as efforts for Save the Children in countries like Bolivia, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia. This article really helps hit at the core of the reason why I decided to do this topic. I can use the information here to point out why not only the Philippines, but other countries are known to have "short" people.