Burmese children: Starvation fears

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Save the Children estimates that 30,000 infants under the age of five in the Irrawaddy Delta were already "acutely malnourished" before the cyclone hit on May 2.

The aid agency believes some children in the stricken areas of Burma may now be dying from lack of food.

Burmese authorities put the death toll from the cyclone at 78,000 with a further 56,000 people missing.

But the country's military government has severely restricted distribution of aid supplies, leaving many of the disaster's estimated 2.5 million survivors in dire need of food, water and shelter.

Jasmine Whitbread, Save the Children UK's chief executive, said: "We are extremely worried that many children in the affected areas are now suffering from severe acute malnourishment, the most serious level of hunger. When people reach this stage they can die in a matter of days.

"Children may already be dying as a result of a lack of food. They urgently need nutrient- and energy-rich food, and food containing all the elements of a balanced diet.

"Save the Children is working flat out to deliver the aid they need and we have already reached over 140,000 people. We need to reach more before it is too late."

The charity also warned that people in Burma could remain dependent on outside help until October 2009.

The disaster has prevented many farmers in the Irrawaddy Delta - the country's rice bowl - from sowing seeds in time for the monsoon harvest.