Overfed and Underfed: Global Food Extremes

The international community of nations has made commitments to eliminate hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition by 2030 and also to promote and protect health through nutritious diet, healthy eating and increased physical activity. Credit: IPSBy Joseph ChamieNEW YORK, Jun 12 2017 (IPS)Global food extremes of chronic undernourishment and obesity have brought about a bipolar world of hundreds of millions of underfed and overfed people. Of the world’s population of 7.5 billion the proportions suffering from chronic undernourishment and those afflicted by obesity are similar, approximately 11 percent or together about 1.6 billion people. However, as with most global averages, the levels of both chronic undernourishment and obesity vary enormously among regions and across and within countries.Various indicators may be used to determine the levels of chronic undernourishment, including caloric intake, poverty, mortality/morbidity, weight and height measurements, child wasting and child stunting as well as composite indexes. In this analysis, the focus is on undernourishment, defined as a person not able to acquire enough food to meet the daily minimum dietary energy requirements over a period of one year.Almost all of the chronically undernourished, more than 800 million people, live in developing countries, primarily in Africa and Asia. The reminder of the chronically undernourished, about 15 million people, reside in developed countries.The populations of some 40 ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Development & Aid Food & Agriculture Global Headlines Health Poverty & SDGs Regional Categories Source Type: news