Mexico City, April 28 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Over a third of Mexican children up to the age of five suffer from malnutrition, World Vision warned on Monday. The aid organization released a report titled “The State of the Most Vulnerable Children and Young People in Mexico 2015,” in which 36 percent of the six million studied were not receiving enough food.

According to Silvia Novoa, director of World Vision Mexico, after five years of age malnutrition damage is permanent. The level of infant malnutrition in Mexico is similar to that of Africa, said nutritionist Maribel Yañez.

“The government is making a small effort without results (to counteract the situation),” she explained. The study also revealed 70 percent of teenagers at secondary school are below the optimum literacy level, according to results from over 2 million minors living in eight states of Mexico.

“1.2 percent did not understand words, even though they had finished school,” said Novoa. The study also reports that 21 million children live in poverty in the country, and 11 million live in extreme poverty.