Climate change, rapid urbanisation and globalisation are just some of the factors that are playing havoc with our food system. Our food system is strained, struggling to feed all of humanity and the multiple burdens of malnutrition and its consequences are exerting a huge influence on the wellbeing and economic resilience of individuals, communities and countries.
The problem is complex. While we’ve put into practice interventions to tackle undernutrition on a global scale, when it comes to overweight and obesity and the correlation between undernutrition and obesity, we’re very much at the beginning of a long road.
According to the Global Nutrition Report 2015, every country in the world is dealing with malnutrition in one form or another. We have in many parts of the world, the persistence of undernutrition, especially among children and women, along with a rapid rise in overweight and obesity significantly increasing the risk of a whole host of diet-related chronic health conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes, stroke, heart disease and cancers.
This double burden is being seen in different population groups, in many developing countries - rich and poor - and is even evident within the same families. With the world’s population expected to grow from around 7 billion today to more than 9.7 billion in 2050 and with the prediction that 66% of the world will live in cities by 2050, we need to collectively put into practice stronger efforts to fix a broken food system.
There is no single solution because we know there are so many factors that exacerbate the problem. As mentioned, we must look at climate change and mass urbanisation but also trade systems, agricultural systems, consumer behaviour, the role of private sector business and purchasing power to fully grasp the complexities that are in front of us.
One thing is clear though that we must prioritise malnutrition on the global stage because malnutrition costs the global economy $3.5tn a year, that’s a staggering 11% of the world’s GDP.
The big rise in overweight and obesity is not only affecting individuals, but adds further strain to fragile health care systems. In the US alone the increase in overweight and obesity numbers is huge and doesn’t look set to slow down anytime soon. Widespread obesity raised medical-care in the US by $315.8bn in 2010 amounting to about $3,508 a year for each obese person.
So going forward, how can we make headway to tackle this escalating burden? Firstly we need to stop looking at issues in isolation, undernutrition and overweight and obesity are not two separate problems. They are very much intertwined and their solution lies in concerted action.
Focusing on early life stages, adolescent girls and maternal health are where we know good nutrition has the biggest impact and is therefore crucial to tackling the double burden. We are also aware that babies who experience poor nutrition in the 1,000 day window from their conception to second birthday are at an increased risk of being overweight and obese in later life.
As the inequality gap widens in countries, access to healthy and nutritious food like animal sourced foods and fruits and vegetables becomes harder for poorer consumers. Processed junk foods containing little or no nutritious value are often the more convenient choice. Improving access to better nutrition at sustained scale will require deliberate action through markets using new partnership models that harness private sector know-how and strengths. These investments need to be enabled and managed through appropriate incentives and regulatory frameworks in an attempt to get people eating better.
We developed a malnutrition map at the start of this year to help governments and policy makers understand the scale of the problem at country level. We need to get much smarter at identifying the data gaps and investing in the capabilities to fill those gaps. The map includes data from more than 30 countries representing low, middle and high incomes, and provides an easy path to country-by-country statistics and insights on nutritional challenges. By having accurate data we can work with governments to put effective solutions in place that are country specific.
We are making headway by exploring innovative behaviour change programs targeting mothers and children. We also are working with policy makers in key countries to improve the regulatory environment governing food production, storage and handling, advertising of foods for sale in schools and for older infant and young child feeding, as well as continuing our work to encourage production and sale of healthier foods to low-income consumers.
While this is a start, in order to truly eliminate hidden hunger by 2030 and successfully reach SDG2 we have to develop a new culture of shared responsibility. Malnutrition cannot be tackled by one industry of business or another. It is only by working together with shared global responsibilities, rules and regulations that success is truly viable. We need to place malnutrition on centre stage and accept accountability for our collective actions.
Content on this page is paid for and provided by GAIN, a sponsor of the Guardian Global Development Professionals Network.
