Pyongsong’s city center. (Bjørn Christian Tørrissen)
Spreading malnutrition among children is becoming a major social issue in North Korea, with three orphans at a school in Pyongsong recently dying after losing consciousness due to severe nutritional deficiency.
According to a Daily NK source in South Pyongan province, the orphans were rushed to a hospital but could not be revived.
Most orphans at the school do not get enough of the essential vitamins and minerals they need from their diet, leading to weight loss, fatigue and lethargy. Furthermore, protein deficiency causes muscle atrophy, emaciation of the limbs, hair loss and swelling of the hands and feet.
The nutritional level at group homes in North Korea is reportedly worse than bad—the only word for it is abysmal.
Orphans at boarding schools are rarely served high-protein foods such as meat or eggs and cannot even eat their fill of less nutritional dishes such as corn mixed with rice.
Group environments particularly vulnerable
This kind of nutritional deficiency is most widely observed among North Koreans without regular access to food and particularly those in group environments such as orphanages, labor brigades and the military.
Undernourishment is often deadly for children and the elderly. It weakens the immune system, making people vulnerable to various diseases, and slows or even halts recovery, with illness often leading to death.
There is a solution, however. Malnourished individuals can recover if they eat a well-balanced diet of carbohydrates, proteins and fats, including ample amounts of fruit, vegetables and seaweed.
With regular medical checkups, individuals can be accurately diagnosed for early symptoms and head off malnutrition by augmenting their nutritional intake.
But the reality is that, in North Korea, such measures are often impractical.
In the group environments mentioned above—orphanages, labor brigades and military units—it is basically impossible to arrange a balanced diet.
Even more than material shortages, a more fundamental cause of undernourishment is that North Koreans lack the autonomy needed to better their own lives.
North Koreans need to remember that the tragedy of children dying from malnutrition is due to the rigid systems imposed by the Workers’ Party of Korea and social arrangements that are comparable to a “prison without bars.” They also need to recognize that the fundamental solution lies in enjoying the basic human right of autonomy.
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