posted May 31, 2006 12:25 PM              

The report on food security and vulnerability in Iraq said almost one child in every 10 aged between six months and five years, suffered acute malnourishment.

"Children are... major victims of food insecurity," it said, describing the situation as "alarming".

A total of four million Iraqis, roughly 15 per cent of the population, were in dire need of humanitarian aid including food, up from 11 per cent in a 2003 report, the survey of more than 20,000 Iraqi households found.

Saddam's 35-year rule was marked by ruinous wars - first against Iran in 1980-88 and then against US-led forces in 1991 and again in 2003 - as well as crippling economic sanctions in the 1990s.

The aftermath of the US-led invasion has seen widespread violence, with militant and sectarian attacks and killings preventing a return to normal life for many Iraqis and hindering humanitarian aid efforts.

"Decades of conflict and economic sanctions have had serious effects on Iraqis," the report said.

"Their consequences have been rising unemployment, illiteracy and, for some families, the loss of wage earners."

The survey was conducted by the ministries of planning and health supported by the UN World Food Program and the UN Children's Fund UNICEF.

David Singh, a spokesman for UNICEF's Iraq Support Centre in neighbouring Jordan, said the number of acutely malnourished children had more than doubled, to 9 per cent in 2005 from 4 per cent in 2002, the last year of Saddam's rule.

Many children in homes lacking sufficient food suffered from chronic malnutrition, the UN agency added.

"This can irreversibly hamper the young child's optimal mental/cognitive development, not just their physical development," Roger Wright, UNICEF's special representative for Iraq, said in its statement.

Mr Singh told Reuters: "Until there is a period of relative stability in Iraq we are going to continue to face these kinds of problems".

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1639071.htm