DTMT Network
A new report published in the Lancet journal has revealed that more than a third low-and middle-income countries have overlapping obesity and malnutrition, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific.

The authors of the report have used survey data from these countries in the 1990s and 2010s to estimate which countries faced a double burden of malnutrition (ie, in the population, more than 15% of people had wasting, more than 30% were stunted, more than 20% of women had thinness, and more than 20% of people were overweight).

Dr Francesco Branca, Director of the Department of Nutrition for Health and Development, World Health Organization (WHO), said “We can no longer characterize countries as low-income and undernourished, or high-income and only concerned with obesity. All forms of malnutrition have a common denominator – food systems that fail to provide all people with healthy, safe, affordable, and sustainable diets.”

Dr Branca added that changing this will require action across food systems – from production and processing, through trade and distribution, pricing, marketing, and labelling, to consumption and waste. All relevant policies and investments must be radically re-examined.

The WHO has emphasized that a new approach is needed to help reduce undernutrition and obesity at the same time, as the issues become increasingly connected due to rapid changes in countries’ food systems.

According to the WHO, worldwide estimates suggest that almost 2.3 billion children and adults are overweight, and more than 150 million children are stunted. However, in low- and middle-income countries these emerging issues overlap in individuals, families, communities and countries.