BOGOTA, April 27 (Xinhua) -- More than 500,000 children, or 12 percent of the minor population, are suffering from chronic malnutrition in Colombia, according to a report published on Thursday.

    The report, published by the research center of University of Andes' Economics Faculty, said that 20 percent of the malnourished were poor.

    The central Colombian province of Boyaca and the southeast province of Narino have the highest malnutrition rates, with 20 percent of their minors malnourished.

    In Bogota, the capital city, the malnutrition rate runs at 15 percent.

    The study said that between 1995 and 2000, height-related malnutrition fell from 30 percent to 12 percent. But in the last five years, malnutrition has been on the rise again.

    The findings indicated that the Family Well-being initiative, which has been serving nearly 1 million children, was not so effective.

    The report was published in commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the Higher Education and Development Foundation, a private center that focused on researches in social and economic affairs. Enditem