The 2016 Global Nutrition Report shows that 44 percent of countries with data available (57 out of 129 countries) now experience very serious levels of both undernutrition and adult overweight & obesity
Rates of obesity and overweight are rising in every region of the world and in nearly every country according to the 2016 Global Nutrition Report released today. The independent report reveals insufficient progress in the fight against all forms of malnutrition; for example, almost all countries are off course on efforts to reduce anemia in women and to prevent further increase in diabetes.
Malnutrition manifests itself in many different ways: as poor child growth and development; as individuals who are skin and bone or prone to infection; as those who carry too much weight or whose blood contains too much sugar, salt, fat or cholesterol; or those who are deficient in important vitamins or minerals.
Malnutrition is responsible for nearly half of all deaths of children under age five, and, together with poor diets, is the number one driver of the global burden of disease. At least 57 countries experience serious levels of both undernutrition – including stunting and anemia – and adult overweight and obesity, putting a massive strain on many already fragile health systems.
“One in three people suffer from some form of malnutrition,” said Lawrence Haddad, Co-Chair of the Global Nutrition Report and Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. “We now live in a world where being malnourished is the new normal. It is a world that we must all claim as totally unacceptable.”
The 2016 Report launches this week in seven cities around the globe – Beijing, Johannesburg, Nairobi, New Delhi, New York, Stockholm and Washington DC – and comes on the heels of renewed international attention on nutrition. The Report highlights the staggering economic costs of malnutrition, as well as the critical gaps in investments and commitments to date, including:
· Societal costs: 11 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) is lost every year in Africa and Asia due to malnutrition. Every year, global GDP losses from malnutrition are greater than what was lost each year during the 2008-2010 financial crisis.
· Family costs: In theUS, when one person in a household is obese, the household spends on average an additional 8 percent of its annual income in healthcare costs. In China, a diagnosis of diabetes results in an annual 16.3 percent loss of income for those with the disease.
· Financing gaps: Brand new analysis in the report shows that nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases received only USD 50 million of donor funding in 2014, despite the fact that all noncommunicable diseases now cause nearly 50 per cent of death and disability in low- and middle-income countries. Of 24 low- and middle-income government budgets analyzed in the Report, just an average two per cent of spending is allocated toward reducing undernutrition, while donor allocations to nutrition programs are stagnating at $ 1 billion.
“We’re far from done addressing undernutrition,” said Corinna Hawkes, Co-Chair of the Global Nutrition Report, “but governments and donors now also have to cope with the threat that nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases and obesity pose to improving global health and development. One in 12 people globally have diabetes now, and nearly two billion people are obese or overweight. We must stem the tide.”
Despite these challenges, the Report shows that progress has been made, and is possible. The number of stunted children under five is declining in every region except Africa and Oceania. Individually, many countries have shown remarkable progress: in Ghana for example, stunting rates have almost halved – from 36 to 19 per cent– in just 11 years. Many countries are also close to being on track to meet global targets; Peru and Malawi, for example, are close to being on track to meeting global targets on breastfeeding and anemia reduction.
The Report also highlights critical implementation gaps on policies and interventions which have been proven to reduce malnutrition.
Comments are closed.