As the world prepares to celebrate the Food Day, many are warning that the hunger crisis for children is worse than ever.

For the first time in history more than one billion people are chronicly hungry -  and over 400 million of them are children.

Approximately every six seconds a child dies from hunger-related causes.

With the world's population growing, it is estimated that we will need 70 per cent more food to meet demand by the year 2050.
 
World leaders have pledged support for a $22 bn dollar food security initiative and Barack Obama, the US president, has outlined a new strategy to fight hunger.

Just what does it really take to save starving kids around the globe?

Presenter Sohail Rahman is joined by guests Margaret Schuler, the associate vice president of Save the Children, Dr. John Hoddinott, a senior research fellow for the International Food Policy Research Institute, and Mark Smulders, a senior economist with FAO food security and agricultural projects analysis service.

This episode of Inside Story aired from Thursday, October 15, 2009.