Can HIV-style campaign cut world hunger?

India is one of the world’s fastest growing economies, but it also has the world’s highest rate of chronic malnutrition among children.

Despite its wealth, the country is home to 60 million stunted children who can expect both developmental and physical problems in later life.

A report by Save the Children, A Life Free From Hunger, says preventing child hunger and allowing young people to reach their earning potential would lift global GDP by 41 per cent in the next decade.

It says almost one in three families in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan say they have been forced to cut back on food.

My children used to cry because they were so hungry. I’d tell them to wait until their father came home to see if he had food. Azmeri, Bangladeshi mother

The charity’s country director in India, Shireen Vakil Miller, told Channel 4 News a worldwide push, similar to that against HIV, is needed: “That kind of campaign isn’t happening in terms of malnutrition yet the cost to the world economy is huge.

“Malnutrition is a much bigger killer in terms of numbers (than Aids) and we don’t need new technology – interventions are already there.”

Save the Children says malnutrition is rarely listed as a cause of death and as a result has been sidelined by the international community.

It says only 1 per cent of global aid goes towards improving child nutrition and solutions to tackling hunger are massively underfunded.

The charity is calling for David Cameron to host a world food summit after the 2012 Olympics when world leaders are in London.

Read more: UK-India row shows 'politicisation of aid'

‘I couldn’t breastfeed’

The situation in India is replicated in other Asian countries, including Bangladesh, where 43 per cent of children surveyed are stunted.

Thirty year old Azmeri lost her youngest child because she could not afford to feed him. He died when he was 20 days old: “I couldn’t breastfeed him, there was nothing there, so he couldn’t have any food.”

She said: “My children used to cry because they were so hungry. I’d tell them to wait until their father came home to see if he had food.

“I really want my children to have an education and to work hard so I can depend on them.”

Save the Children’s Shireen Vakil Miller said that malnutrition affects the youngest children under the age of two as well as mothers.

She added: “Once stunting occurs you can’t catch up. Children are affected physically and cognitively – this report shows that a child who is chronically malnourished can have an IQ 15 points lower, which is a huge burden.”