Malnutrition is one of the world’s most serious, yet least resolved, development challenges. Its human and economic costs are enormous and fall most heavily on the poor, women and children. In 2022, 148 million children under the age of five were stunted (low height-for-age ratio), which not only indicates a failure to achieve one’s own genetic height potential, but is also a predictor of many other developmental constraints, including cognitive deficits and future economic opportunities, including hindering a country’s ability to accumulate human capital.
Over the past three decades, the global prevalence of stunting has declined from 40 percent in 1990 to 22 percent in 2022. However, disruptions to health and food systems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have rolls back years of progress on child undernutrition; it is estimated that, by 2022, an additional number 9.3 million children will suffer from acute malnutrition and an additional 2.6 million children will be stunted. Global rates have stagnated over the past five years, and as we approach the halfway point towards the SDGs, we are moving further and further away from the trajectory needed to halve stunting rates. here 2030 (Joint Estimates of Child Malnutrition (JME) for 2022). South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are hardest hit, with the latter showing an unfortunate increase of more than 2 million in 2022 compared to 2020. But that may not be all: as an indicator lagged, the negative impact of recent crises on chronic malnutrition will probably not yet fully manifest itself.
Additionally, the total number of stunted children in Africa increased over the same period due to high fertility rates and a smaller decline in stunting.
Stunted growth early in a child’s life can cause irreversible damage to cognitive development and have consequences for education, earnings and productivity that extend into adulthood. The economic costs of undernutrition, in terms of loss of national productivity and economic growth, are significant: our economy and society pay $3 trillion per year in lost productivity, ranging from 3 to 16% (or more) of GDP in 2017. low-income environments. Additionally, the global consortium of expertsincluding the World Bank, have estimated global economic productivity losses of $29 billion by 2022 due to the additional burden of malnutrition attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fortunately, these losses are largely preventable if adequate investments are made in proven interventions, particularly those aimed at ensuring optimal nutrition during the critical 1,000-day period between the start of a woman’s pregnancy and the second birthday. of her child.
At the same time, a global nutrition transition is underway, leading to rapid changes in food systems, environments and living conditions in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). These changes have spurred a rapid increase in the burden of overweight and obesity, previously considered a scourge of rich countries. In fact, over the past 30 years, overweight rates have increased more rapidly in LMICs than in high-income countries, and each region has seen some increase in the prevalence of overweight among children under five. . In 2020, 38.9 million children under the age of 5 were affected by overweight and obesity. In total, overweight and obesity are estimated to cost $2 trillion in economic and social spending globally.
Although stunting and wasting get the most attention, the rampant rise in overweight among children under 5 is often overlooked: a staggering 37 million children are now living with overweight in the world, an increase of almost 4 million since 2000, widening the gap between our current situation. trajectory and the SDG target to reduce excess weight to less than 3% by 2030.
Only Europe and Central Asia seem to show a positive trend. Latin America and the Caribbean, East Asia and the Pacific, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are clear priorities requiring immediate action, with the MENA region leading the way, with a whopping 1 in 10 children overweight or obese and a reversal of past progress. .
Countries are therefore beginning to suffer the double burden of excess weight and stunted growth. Today, more of the world’s overweight people reside in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries, and there is no evidence that the rise in obesity in LMICs will decline. As countries experience economic growth and reach middle- and upper-income status, their poor will face a greater share of the burden of overweight and obesity, increasing their vulnerability to health and economic shocks. Both obesity and undernutrition are essential to improving human capital, a key driver of sustainable growth and poverty reduction, and can have a significant effect on human capital index (HCI). There is an urgent need to ensure that the world’s poor have access to the knowledge, resources and services needed to achieve optimal nutrition.
The world is behind schedule on undernutrition and obesity targets for 2030, and unless urgent action is taken on a large scale, the global targets will not be met. The world must tackle undernutrition and obesity simultaneously through comprehensive strategies that include scaling up high-impact interventions, fiscal policies such as taxesmarketing regulations and labeling of unhealthy foods such as sugary drinksand nutritional education of consumers. Many countries are already starting to do this (see the Global Sugary Drink Tax Database), but more must be done to foster a healthier and more sustainable future.
Nutrition is also closely linked to climate change — Women, guardians of household food and nutritional security, are often the first to bear the heaviest burden of climate-related adversities, soaring food prices and inflationary pressures. The most recent available estimates of anemia among women of reproductive age show that in 2019, 30% of women were anemic (an alarming 7 percentage points above the trajectory needed to reach the goal) SDG target by 2030) and some recent (albeit incomplete) data suggests that anemia rates among women may actually be increasing.
Urgent action is needed to link nutrition and climate change. Large-scale financing is essential. While national budgets and ODA are limited, taking advantage innovative financing, including from the private sector, are essential. As we step up the nutrition agenda, the world must aim to get more money for nutrition, and more nutrition for money, by ensuring more efficient use of available resources, using tools such as Optima Nutrition, nutrition-sensitive budgetingAnd reviews of public expenditure on nutrition.
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Last updated: June 29, 2023
