Film actor, director and producer Aamir Khan has been named Ambassador for UNICEF in South Asia In his new role Mr. Khan will focus on supporting child nutrition to end stunting across the region. ?? am delighted to become an Ambassador for UNICEF in South Asia. I hope my messages on the importance of children?? nutrition will urge parents, families, and leaders at all levels to support and adopt proven services and nutrition practices that will help children grow and develop to their full potential,??Khan said. ??hild stunting remains one of the greatest development challenges to South Asia. Stunted children have stunted bodies, stunted brains, and stunted lives.

Compared with children who are not stunted, stunted children have poorer cognitive development, often enroll later in school, complete fewer grades, and learn less ??leading to reduced productivity and income-earning in adult life??he added. After sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia has the highest number of under-five deaths in the world with 2.3 million in 2011. Across the region nearly 40 per cent of children under the age of five are stunted because of chronic under nutrition and an estimated 28 per cent of children are born with low birth weight, largely due to women?? poor nutrition before and during pregnancy.

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