Poll: 10% of Palestinian children have lasting malnutrition
effects Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics says numbers up
over last two years due to widespread poverty About 10 percent
of Palestinian children suffer permanent effects from
malnutrition, according to a survey published Wednesday, a
result of widespread poverty in the West Bank and Gaza. The root
cause is poverty, according to Khaled Abu Khaled, who directed
the study for the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. He
said the numbers are up slightly over the past two years. "One
obvious effect of malnutrition is stunted growth among children,
which has increased about three percent in the last two years,"
he said. "This is a chronic chronic. Even with interventions,
the rates don't go down fast," he said. Other surveys have shown
that about half of the Palestinians are living in poverty. Six
years of violence between Palestinians and Israelis have
crippled economic growth in the West Bank and Gaza. A year of
international aid sanctions fol